Competitors (reposted)
by 808abc123
Summary: Reposted
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Come on Bo you can do it!"

A twelve year old Bo Dennis stood on the pitcher's mound forty feet from home plate wiping the sweat from her face as she stared down her final batter. Being the only child of two deceased parents she'd been raised by her grandfather who was better at talking sports than life lessons and "tough love" was definitely something she was used to. She could rattle off shooting percentages for the top college and pro basketball teams, random statistics for hockey and football players in almost any category, but her true passion, the one thing she was happy her grandfather passed on to her was for baseball.

A game of intelligence and foresight similar to chess, Bo loved the intricacies of the sport down to the minute details. She knew the best play for the infinite scenarios she could find herself in and could pick up the type of hitter she was facing by the way the ball connected with their bats. She had an uncanny ability to pick up on the smallest details even at such a young age and she was already leaps and bounds ahead of her teammates.

Growing up in the small Midwest town she had to turn her affinity for baseball into a love for softball which although similar had its slight variances and the more she played the more she fell in love with the game. And the more she fell in love with it the better she got until she hit her current position of the #1 player in the US in the twelve and under category.

The final batter took their position in the box and she smirked slightly as she stared down at the catcher waiting for the sign to be relayed from the coach. Once she had the go ahead she took a breath and calmed herself before starting her wind up and delivering a fastball low and outside.

"Strike!"

The batter stared back at her with slight disbelief as no other pitcher at that age had as much control as she did. Bo laughed to herself as the catcher threw the ball back to her and she kicked the dirt slightly waiting for the next sign. Another quick breath and Bo was into her wind up this time delivering a fastball high and inside.

"Strike!"

This time the batter swung and missed and Bo smirked again knowing she had the other girl totally off balance. She knew her catcher knew what was coming next. Without even waiting for the signal she took her ready stance and another deep breath. A big wind up and flurry of motion had the batter totally of guard so when her changeup went down the pipe for strike three the batter just stared at her without even flinching.

"Yeah Bo!"

Her teammates congratulated her and she thanked them graciously as she looked over at her grandfather who just shook his head. She bit her lip a bit knowing he was going to have a laundry list of things that were wrong with her performance today but at the moment she didn't care. They won the national championship on her final pitch and she was going to enjoy it.

 ** _Somewhere in small town Canada_**

"Come on Lauren, you're not even trying."  
An eleven year old Tamsin glared at her ten year old sister who was standing in the batters box looking slightly annoyed. Lauren Lewis was some kind of child prodigy when it came to softball and all of Canada was excited to see what would become of her. A utility player by choice she ensured she was good at all the positions so that she could be useful wherever her team needed her but her favorite position was catcher. She loved the connection with the pitcher and being a braniac she was often able to outsmart the batters on her own accord knowing their tendencies and the pitchers strengths and weaknesses.

The only thing she liked more than being behind the plate was being in the box as she prided herself in being able to hit any pitcher in the country, and so far she has lived up to that statement. Her older sister was one of the premier pitchers in Canada and the two of them had been playing together ever since they could both catch a ball. Tamsin taught her younger sister about the love of the game and Lauren embraced it wholeheartedly. Their parents didn't really care that much about the sport but they allowed their daughters to play as long as they brought home good grades which they both did in spades. Being so much bigger than her sister Tamsin was very protective of Lauren and everyone knew not to mess with the Lewis sisters as the older one was known to "accidently" let a ball or two slip which usually resulted in a ball to the side of the head.

Currently Tamsin was working with Lauren on her slap hitting techniques and the younger sibling was quickly growing tired of it. She was more a placement hitter as she didn't have exceptional speed, something that was key for this type of play. Lauren grunted as Tamsin threw her another pitch and she focused on not popping the ball up but rather driving it down into the dirt.

"Tamsin, enough already."

The taller blonde just rolled her eyes as she nodded and took off her glove. She walked over to her sister and put an arm around her shoulders. "Okay enough for today. But you need to work on that kid. You gotta keep them off balance when you're batting."

Lauren just nodded and walked with her sister back into the house. She wanted to do her best for her sister and hopefully she'd figure it out and make her proud.

 ** _Eight Years Later_**

Lauren took a breath as she pushed open the door to the training facility. She had been at UCLA for a few weeks now and it was finally time to start spring practices with the team. Her sister had also been accepted into the program and due to a shoulder injury had red-shirted her freshman year meaning the Lewis sisters would have four years to play together.

"Move newbie."

A girl with long dark hair was glaring at her a bit as she stood awkwardly in the doorway. The girl huffed and shoved the door further open with a roll of her eyes.

"You must be the other Lewis?"

The blonde gave her a small nod and a shy smile. "Lauren Lewis, nice to meet you."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Kenzi, and we'll see about that. Put your shit down and let's go we have five minutes."

The girl, Kenzi apparently, turned and walked out of the training room leaving a still confused Lauren standing there looking around. She didn't know where she was supposed to put her stuff nor where to go once she did. She wished Tamsin could have been there to help her but the older sibling had informed her she had a pitchers meeting with the coaching staff that morning and wouldn't be able to meet her.

"Need some help?"

Lauren turned around and a taller dark skinned girl was standing there giving her a warm smile. Lauren immediately returned the smile and nodded. "Yes please. I'm Lauren."

"Nadia. And your stuff goes over here."

She pointed to an empty locker and nodded for Lauren to set her stuff down. The blonde dropped her bag and took off her hoodie before grabbing her gloves and nodding to the other girl. Nadia smiled and pointed at one of the gloves in her hand. "You're the new catcher?"

Lauren shrugged. "I'm the new whatever Coach needs."

Nadia smiled and nodded before grabbing her own catcher's mitt and nodding. "Well hopefully we get to work together." She held up the glove and nodded before leading Lauren out of the room. The pair made their way to the field and for the first time Lauren felt a bit overwhelmed. The training facility was in pristine condition and even though Lauren had an outstanding reputation in Canada she knew she'd have to prove herself all over again.

"Alright ladies gather round."

The coach was a former player and one of the reasons Lauren had made the decision to join Tamsin at UCLA. She had been recruited by all the top collegiate programs but it was the passion and determination that she could see in Kelly Inouye-Perez that made Lauren decide to become a Bruin.

"Welcome to opening day. For the returners you know the drill. For the new girls, now's the time to see if you got what it takes."

The coach looked around at the group and trained her gaze on the faces both familiar and new. She gave them some basic direction about how the next week would go and some things they needed to know. Lauren looked around as the coach was talking and smiled when she saw her sister.

"Are you listening?"

Lauren froze when she realized all eyes were on her and she did her best to not hyperventilate as she nodded slowly to the coach. Coach smirked a bit and nodded a bit.

"So what was I saying?"

Lauren licked her lips. "Practices are between one and five with weight training in the morning."

Coach rolled her eyes a bit as she nodded. "What's your name?"

Lauren swallowed slowly. "Um, Lauren Lewis."

The coach looked to one of her assistants who pointed to a clipboard. The coach scanned the sheet for a second before looking up at her. "So you're the other Lewis sister huh? Okay, let's see if you hit better than your sister does."

She motioned for Lauren to take her place in the batter's box before turning back to the group. "DENNIS."

A taller brunette standing next to the girl that Lauren recognized as Kenzi looked up. "Yes Coach?"

The coach pointed to the mound and the brunette grinned. She was basically being asked to embarrass the freshman and Lauren huffed a bit as she reached for a bat. She knew all about Bo Dennis from her sister and what she'd heard she didn't like. So far. She couldn't help but admit to herself that the girl was just as beautiful as she was cocky and arrogant. Luckily Tamsin had given her a full profile of the All-American pitcher from last year and Lauren already knew her tendencies and her preferences on the mound. She walked slowly over to the batter's box and tried to focus on the task at hand instead of the girl 43 feet from her.

Nadia had slipped on her catchers mask and protective chest guard and after Lauren watched her throw a few warm up pitches she stepped up ready to face her. Nadia had been catching for Bo for the past 3 years and the pair had a solid connection. Nadia would call her own pitches and Bo trusted her to put her in the best position possible for each batter.

Lauren licked her lips as she always did when standing in the box and she waited for Bo to nod indicating she had the desired sign. She had a feeling this first pitch was going to be inside as a warning to her so she braced herself ready to step back if needed. Bo took a breath and went through her wind up and as expected delivered a hard fastball on the inside half of the plate and Lauren stepped back slightly not quite ready for the speed of the pitch.

"Come on freshman, don't be scared."

Kenzi snickered with a few of their teammates as everyone but Tamsin chuckled at Lauren's reaction. Even Bo was laughing slightly on the mound and Nadia just shook her head hoping that Lauren was stronger than she appeared at the moment. Lauren just shook it off and took her stance again in the same spot as she mentally thought about what Tamsin had taught her about Bo. She expected a drop ball on the outside corner next and she knew she wouldn't be able to make solid contact with that so even if it was a strike she was going to let it go.

Bo took a breath and nodded as she started her windup. She wanted to see what this girl was made of so she was going to test out one of her newer pitches. Most right handed pitchers threw their curve ball towards the off hand but Bo was learning to throw it to the dominant meaning her curve would actually turn in like a lefty's curve instead of a right handed pitcher. It wasn't quite a screwball but rather a slow curve and if she perfected this she would be the only one who threw it. She went through her wind up and let it fly but since she was still fine tuning it she wasn't quite as controlled as she'd like and the ball barely missed Lauren's head as it sailed up and in.

"HEY!"

Tamsin was about to charge the mound but Lauren quickly jumped up and shook it off motioning for her sister to calm down. Lauren was tougher than most people gave her credit for and she figured it was just Bo trying to piss her off. On the mound however the Junior pitcher actually felt bad for that as she hadn't intended on hurting her. Nadia gave her a look and Bo just shook her head as if to say, it was an accident, but she noticed the fact that Nadia threw the ball back to her a bit harder than necessary indicating she wasn't happy. The downside of being so in sync with her catcher is now Bo felt bad knowing Nadia thought she was being an asshole and she just shook her head trying to clear her thoughts.

"Come on Bo Bo. Finish her off already."

Kenzi cheered her on earning a glare from Tamsin who was mentally trying to send Lauren thoughts about what to expect from the brunette pitcher. Lauren wiped her hands on her pants before griping the bat again and she took a deep breath before standing in the batters box and licking her lips readying herself for whatever the brunette would deliver.

Bo stared her down as she took in the sign from Nadia and smiled at it. When done right no one ever hit her changeup mostly because she hardly threw it so when she did it was a huge surprise. She was known as a power pitcher and most people expected heat from her on the mound. She took a deep breath of her own before starting her wind up and cleared her thoughts. Lauren noticed the extra movement in her wind up and her lip curled up as she knew what was coming. She'd heard about Bo's changeup and her tendency was to be cocky and throw it right down the middle.

CRACK

Lauren had waited on the pitch knowing she'd get a good look at it and the whole team was in amazement as she took it well beyond the breakaway fence that was 210 feet from where she was standing. She gave Bo a slight smirk as the All-American stood there a bit wide eyed. No one had ever taken her the distance on that pitch let alone a freshman and she was now thoroughly confused at how she'd done that.

"Well, okay then."

Coach walked over with a smirk of her own and gave Lauren a nod before turning to Bo. "Seems like you may need a little work there Dennis."  
The entire team snickered and Tamsin beamed with pride that her sister had done so well. It was unheard of for a newbie to hit Bo let alone a homerun off of her so this set the team buzzing. The rest of practice Lauren had avoided Bo and Kenzi as much as possible knowing they'd probably have some choice words for her if given the chance.

When it was over the girls all headed back to the training room to shower and change except for the pitchers who had to stay behind with the pitching coach and work on a few things. As Lauren walked into the training room again she was met with an annoyed Kenzi.

"Lucky swing there newbie."

Nadia laughed and pushed Kenzi further into the room. "Leave her alone Kenz. Good job freshman."  
Nadia smiled at Lauren before nodding slightly and going to shower. Kenzi gave her a slight glare before turning and following suit leaving Lauren standing there to get changed. A few minutes later Tamsin appeared with a smile and a hug for her baby sister.

"Great job."

Lauren smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

"Lewis."

Both sisters turned to Bo who was standing in the doorway looking at them. Tamsin raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Bo shook her head. "Not you, the other Lewis. Get lost Tamsin."

The older Lewis shook her head and got up to leave them alone. Bo walked in and took a seat next to Lauren. "So, how exactly did you do that today?"

Lauren just shrugged. "Got lucky I guess."

She stood up with her clothes and headed to the shower. Right before she left the room she turned back to Bo. "Dennis?"

Bo looked up with a confused and slightly annoyed face. "What?"

Lauren smiled. "Nice pitching today and better luck next time."

She laughed as she walked into the showers and Bo scowled. This freshman was a bit too cocky for her own good and she'd put her in her place soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The rest of the week progressed much like the first day of practice as the team and coaching staff were using this time to get to know one another and make decisions about who was playing where and so on. For the most part Lauren hadn't gotten to know any of the other girls because after her one-uppance of Bo on that first day the older girls were either a bit weary of her or didn't like her for 'showing off' and the other freshman were all a bit intimidated by her.

It also didn't help that Kenzi was making her life difficult and Lauren could not figure out why the shorter woman had it out for her. She tried asking Tamsin but the older Lewis didn't really know either except for the fact that Kenzi and Bo were BFF's so she chalked it up to wanting to defend her besties honor or something stupid like that.

"Baby Lewis!"

One of the coaches called out to her and Lauren rolled her eyes a bit as she just nodded and jogged over to where the pitching coach was. The staff, and most of the girls, had started calling her that as to differentiate between her and Tamsin and she kind of hated it. Like _really_ hated it.

"Yes Coach?"

The coach blew his whistle and both Bo and Tamsin and Nadia and another girl that Lauren didn't know jogged over. "Okay I want to work Baby Lewis out here with the catchers. Nadia you catch Tamsin, Baby Lewis here will catch for Bo."

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "But coach—"

The coach held up his hand. "Relax Dennis, I just want to work her out. And you need to get used to working with different catchers. Now let's go."

The unknown girl removed her catchers gear and left it in a pile for Lauren to put on which she did so quickly and with little of an eyeroll as feasible at the moment. She secured the final strap and grabbed the mask before jogging over to where Bo was standing waiting for her.

"Take your time freshman, it's fine."

Lauren held her tongue and just nodded as she jogged down to the marker indicating where home plate would be. She wasn't quite sure what to expect but she could see Tamsin and Nadia just warming up so she figured the same would be required of her and Bo. She crouched down into her stance and sure enough Bo just threw her a few pitches at probably half speed to loosen the muscles in her shoulder and back.

"Okay Dennis, go through your pitches. Start with number one."

Bo nodded and took her stance on the practice pitching mound as Lauren crouched into position again. She knew Bo had a pretty good fastball so she prepared herself to catch it and take the impact from the pitch. Bo went through her windup and delivered a low fastball causing Lauren to have to slide over just a bit but not break her stance. She did this in various locations in the strike zone and even Lauren had to admit she was a good pitcher. Tamsin was good, but Lauren could see that Bo was better.

"Okay Dennis, two and three."

Lauren cringed ever so slightly knowing that this meant the curveball and knuckleball in Bo's case. As a catcher, the hardest pitch to catch is the knuckleball because it almost looks as though it's undulating when coming towards you. Bo nodded and took her stance on the mound again readying herself to go through her pitches. With the first wind up she threw a decent curve ball that moved from right and down and Lauren had to stare at her in awe a little at how effortless she made it look.

Most good batters can tell what pitch is coming based on one of two things. Either the way the pitcher holds the ball or the way the pitcher releases the ball. In Bo's case however, she had the ability to mask both of those tells and if Lauren were in the batter's box she wouldn't be able to pick up on what Bo was throwing in the normal way. Lauren threw the ball back to Bo and the older girl kicked the dirt in frustration a little bit. She could feel tightness in her shoulder and she was concerned her off season workouts may have strained something.

"Let's go Dennis…we haven't got all day."

Bo just nodded and moved into position again. After a few more curve balls varying in location and speed she moved on to her knuckleball. Now, as a catcher Lauren had been fortunate that Tamsin also threw a knuckleball so she understood how it moved and how to properly catch it. The downside was that everyone's knuckleball was different and the less control the pitcher had over the ball the more it moved.

"Umph."

Lauren fell back slightly as the ball slammed into her mask. Normally she would have blocked it but the ball moved with such variance that she wasn't prepared for the jump at the end. The young blonde could distinctly hear the laughter coming from Bo who was giving her a pitying smile and out of the corner of her eye she could see Kenzi and a few other girls looking her way and laughing. She quickly jumped back up and rolled her eyes as Bo chuckled slightly and shrugged her shoulder.

"Sorry freshman. Keep your eye on the ball next time."

Lauren squinted in frustration as she grunted and threw the ball back to Bo with a bit more force causing the All-American to laugh. "Easy there tiger, don't hurt yourself any more than necessary."

Lauren scowled behind the mask as Bo laughed and shook out her arm before taking her position. She threw another hard knuckleball and this time Lauren was ready and easily caught it as she was supposed to. They continued to work through the rest of Bo's pitches and soon enough the head coach called and end to practice.

"Hey, Lauren."

Nadia jogged over to where Lauren was gathering the cones and extra balls and putting them in the equipment bag to be put away. As tradition the freshmen were assigned clean up duty after practice and today Lauren just wanted to get it over with and go back to her dorm room to shower and study before falling asleep. It was the first time all week that she actually hated being there and she knew it was just the start of many more days like this to come.

"Hey Nadia."

Lauren gave her a smile as Nadia grabbed some of the cones out of her hands and helped her put them away. Lauren quickly shut the bag and threw it on the cart that would take it to the equipment room later and sighed happily as she started walking back to the training room.

"You okay? Bo's knuckleball can have a bit of pop, trust me I know."

Nadia nudged her lightly and laughed causing Lauren to just nod and smile a bit. She wasn't quite sure if Nadia was just being friendly or something _more_ and she really wasn't sure if she wanted to get herself involved with anyone since she was just starting out at UCLA.

Tamsin had told her stories of some of the girls extracurricular activities both within and outside of the team and Lauren didn't want to be another one of those girls. But, she also knew from Tamsin that Nadia wasn't one of the high drama girls and in fact Tamsin had become pretty good friends with her last year so she wasn't as weary of the older girl.

The pair crossed the field in comfortable silence much to Lauren's appreciation as she was so over today. They were almost at the entrance to the building when movement caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw Bo embrace a tall and gorgeous blonde who seemed very happy to see her. Lauren hadn't realized it but she stopped walking and was fully staring at the pair who were laughing and talking quietly between themselves.

"That's Ciara, she graduated last year."

"Oh…huh? What…I mean…"

Lauren was kind of at a loss for words as she looked at the two women over by the other entrance. She noted the fact that Bo hadn't showered yet meaning she had probably planned to meet this Ciara girl after practice. Was she dating her? Just friends? Why did Lauren even care?

"Yeah she was our second baseman, one of the best."

Lauren just nodded and looked away from the pair with a sigh. Nadia watched Lauren watch Bo and shook her head. "A word of advice? If you're going to get involved with Bo, or want to get involved with her just be prepared to deal with Kenzi. Those two come as a pair."

Lauren frowned as she looked at Nadia. "I don't plan on getting involved with anyone, let alone the very person who put me on my ass today in practice."

Nadia laughed and nodded. "Fiesty, I like it. And okay relax freshman, I was just giving you some advice."

Lauren shrugged. "Thanks but I don't think it's necessary."

Nadia nodded. "Well, I gotta get going. See you tomorrow."

Lauren nodded and tiredly pulled open the door to the locker rooms. After her first week of practice she could tell as much as she thought she was physically ready for the collegiate level, she was sadly mistaken. On top of that she was already starting to stress about her classes as good grades had always been a priority for her and she wanted to ensure she did well in all of her classes.

"Hey Laur, get changed and let's go grab something to eat."

Tamsin set her bag down on the bench next to Lauren and gave her a smile. Tamsin had always looked out for her sister and could tell when she needed some cheering up so after a day like today she was going to do her big sister duties and make sure the younger Lewis didn't get discouraged. All their life Lauren was the one who was so hard on herself and Tamsin was the one who was more carefree and not as easily shaken by the little things. In an environment like this it was obvious that Tamsin would thrive whereas she knew her sister would struggle.

"I just want to take a shower and sleep Tam."

Tamsin crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't hear a question in there. So get your shit and lets go."

Lauren just sighed and nodded as she changed out of her practice clothes and put on her sweats and jacket. She knew it was useless to argue with Tamsin when she got in one of these moods so she figured it was best to just follow suit and hopefully she would be in her bed sleeping soon enough.

The pair exited the building and found Bo and the other blonde still sitting outside talking and laughing. Ciara noticed Tamsin exit and she waived over to her as Bo rolled her eyes slightly. Tamsin just waived back but didn't make a move to go over there which kind of surprised Lauren who gladly followed her past them and out to the parking lot. They got into Tamsin's truck and Lauren waited until they left the parking lot to give her sister a curious look.

"What was that back there?"

Tamsin looked over at her and shrugged. "What?"

Lauren peered at her. "You don't avoid many people. Was it Bo or Ciara that you were avoiding?"

Tamsin looked surprised. "How did you know who that was?"

Lauren shrugged and turned back to face forward. "Nadia pointed her out."

Tamsin stopped at a red light and looked at Lauren curiously. "Nadia huh?"

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Problem?"

Tamsin laughed and put the truck in gear again when the light turned green. "No problem. So, you got a thing for Nadia?"

Lauren scoffed. "Come on T, I don't care about that stuff. I just want to do well in school and play ball."

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "And you're still hung up on that girl back home right? You guys broke up almost a year ago. LET IT GO."

Lauren sighed. "I know. And I have. Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Tamsin smirked. "Okay, but seriously. If you do have a thing for her…she's okay Laur. From what I can tell she's one of the normal ones. And if she's not I'll just kick her ass."

The last part was said with a sweet smile and Lauren just laughed and nodded. "Noted. But honestly Tamsin, I don't think it would be too smart to get involved anyway."

Tamsin looked thoughtful. "What about Bo?"

Lauren gave her a surprised look. "I thought you hated her?"

Tamsin nodded. "Oh I do. But I also see the way you look at her sometimes."

Lauren shrugged nonchalantly. "She's a great player."

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "Yeah not what I'm talking about. And hey, are you saying she's better than me?"

Lauren laughed. "Well.."

Tamsin put the truck in park and glared at her sister who was laughing. "You are such a pain sometimes."

Lauren laughed. "Sorry Tamsin."

The older sister nodded. "All I'm saying is if you have a thing for Bo instead, stay away from her. She's a bitch and her little friend is worse. Trust me."

Lauren gave her a curious look. "Did you—"

Tamsin shook her head. "Hell no. And you shouldn't either."

Lauren nodded. "Okay. Okay."

Tamsin grabbed her bag and got out of the truck with a slam of her door. "Let's go."

Lauren just nodded and silently followed her sister into the late night diner. She wasn't sure why Tamsin's mood had changed so suddenly but now she was curious and wanted to find out. She knew better than to press it though right now so she just enjoyed the meal with her sister and pushed it to the back of her mind for later. She thought about what Tamsin had said though about Nadia and Bo and she shook her head as just the thought of it all made her tired. She would stick to her mantra of school and softball and hopefully make it through the year alive.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It was the day before their pre-season opener and Lauren was exhausted. She'd spent all of fall quarter pretty much hating life and just wanting to get through the days as the practices became more intense and her schoolwork started picking up. Being a perfectionist Lauren was struggling with keeping up with all the assignments and reading for her classes while juggling her softball schedule which wasn't as easy as one would expect.

And then there was the Bo factor. The more Lauren spent time with her the more she was torn. A part of her was very intrigued by the beautiful brunette who seemed to ooze confidence and sexuality with little effort. But another part of her, a much bigger and semi-Tamsin influenced part of her was very weary of the All-American pitcher as well. She had seen Bo with that Ciara girl a few more times throughout the past few months and she wasn't sure if that was her girlfriend or just a close yet platonic friend.

Unfortunately she never really had the chance to find out what the deal with Bo and Ciara was for a couple of reasons. One being that when they were at practice Bo treated her and the two remaining freshman like scrubs and Lauren was sick and tired of her attitude. She had worked with her a few more times during practice as the coach wanted her to be a backup catcher for Nadia if she needed one and Lauren had to admit if not for Bo's personality, she would have quite the girl crush on Bo simply for how talented she was. It only took the blonde a few workouts to understand how Bo thought and when she was catching for her during a few scrimmages at practice she felt like she called a better game than Nadia did although she would never voice that opinion to anyone else.

The other main obstacle was Kenzi. Lauren wasn't sure why the feisty short stop disliked her so much but she made it abundantly clear the blonde was persona non grata. Tamsin reasoned it might be because she had a major falling out with Kenzi last year, but wouldn't say why, and so the hatred from her must just be rubbing off on Lauren but the younger Lewis didn't think that was the entire reason. Kenzi would literally go above and beyond to make sure Lauren knew her place within the team and Lauren had been tempted during more than one batting practice to put a line drive right at her head.

"Baby Lewis…you're up."

Lauren grunted as she grabbed a bat and took her place in the batter's box. They were having a scrimmage and so far the first string was looking pretty strong. Nadia smiled at her from behind the mask and Lauren gave her a small smile as she took her position.

"Be careful Baby Lewis, she's looking for revenge from last time."

Lauren glanced down at her briefly before sighing and turning her attention back to Bo. "Tell her I can do this all day."

Nadia chuckled slightly as she gave Bo the signal and waited for the brunette to nod. There was a runner on first and third with one out in the inning so Lauren had to be careful not to hit into a double play. Given those variables she knew she'd see a lot of off speed stuff as a fastball had the chance of being yanked to the outfield and score the run at third. Her best guess was either a drop ball outside or a rise ball inside. Either one of those should keep most batters off balance enough to not make good contact. Then again this was Bo Dennis who was still holding the grudge against her so on second thought she knew what was coming.

CRACK

Lauren was ready for the high fastball Bo delivered but her hands were just a few seconds late and the ball spun foul. She stared down the brunette who was now glaring at her and she smirked ever so slightly as she licked her lips and took her stance again.

"You got balls Lewis…and apparently a target on your back because she never comes after anyone this hard during a scrimmage."

Lauren just shrugged and focused on Bo. Again Nadia gave the sign and Bo nodded before taking a deep breath. Lauren thought she might go back to the fastball but a low curve caught her off guard and she swung and missed.

"STRIKE"

One of the coaches was acting as umpire and Lauren glared at her ever so slightly as the call was made. The count was now 0-2 and Lauren had to be careful as she really didn't want to be sat down by Bo. Even though this was just practice she knew the upperclassmen would take too much joy in striking her out and she didn't want to give her the chance.

Lauren licked her lips and took her stance as Bo nodded once she had the desired sign from Nadia. Once again Lauren tried to figure out what pitch Bo would throw but as soon as she saw the slight roll over of her wrist in her glove she knew the knuckleball was coming. Now, having caught her a few times already Lauren knew the balls tendency was to move up and in and more importantly out of the strike zone so she was going to take the pitch and hope for the best.

"BALL."

Lauren sighed as the count moved to 1-3 and she knew she still had some work cut out for her. She braced herself in the batter's box again and waited for Bo's wind up. She knew without a doubt this was going to be a breaking ball away and out of the zone so again she took the pitch even though for a split second she hesitated on her decision thinking it might end up in the strike zone.

"BALL."

2-2 was the count and Lauren could see Bo get frustrated, especially after that last pitch that probably 90% of the batters she'd face would swing at. But Lauren's patience at bat was one of her greatest attributes and right now it was the one thing pissing Bo off. Lauren could hear Nadia chuckling softly behind the plate knowing Bo was now aggravated and she called in the sign to the brunette who was looking more and more pissed.

"Any time now Dennis."

The head coach was rolling her eyes at the Junior pitcher who just nodded and faced Lauren ready to deliver again. Lauren didn't even blink as Bo started her wind up and when Lauren saw the extra flex in her arm during the pitching motion she knew the pitch was going to be a changeup. The problem was she didn't know where Bo was going to put it so she readied herself in case it came in the zone.

"BALL."

"Oh come on coach."

Bo looked annoyed that her pitch was called a ball since it barely missed the outside edge of the plate. The coach just stared her down and she took a deep breath to calm herself as she gave Kenzi a WTF look before turning back to Lauren. Tamsin was on the sideline watching the whole scene unfold with great interest and she was getting far too much pleasure out of seeing Bo frustrated. Even though she's only played with her for one year, she could already pick up on the minor signs that the brunette was pissed and right now she was furious.

Nadia took her position as Bo nodded once she had the sign she wanted and Lauren licked her lips slowly as she waited for Bo to start her wind up. She caught Bo staring her in the eye and the edge of her mouth tilted up ever so slightly causing the brunette to lose focus for the briefest of seconds. Bo stood up and backed off her pitch and the entire team looked confused as Bo had never done that before.

"Time."

The pitching coached walked over to Bo and gave her an annoyed look as Nadia trotted up to the mound. "Everything alright Dennis?"

Bo nodded. "Fine coach…uh just had something in my eye."

Nadia gave her a knowing look and Bo just turned to move back to the mound to start her stance. Nadia's eyebrows went up a bit as she walked back to home plate and Lauren looked at her with slight concern. "She okay?"

Nadia laughed. "You're about to find out."

Lauren sighed as she took her position again and looked at Bo who was staring at Nadia waiting for her to get in position. She was tired of messing around with the freshman and she was frustrated that Lauren was still at bat and that she'd gone from way ahead to behind in the count. Bo blinked slowly to calm herself before taking a big wind up. If Baby Lewis wanted to be a bad ass then she needed to deal with the big girls.

"STRIKE THREE."

Bo had thrown about as hard as she could and the fastball whizzed by Lauren on the inside part of the plate. The blonde had swung but her timing was thrown off by how fast it came and her bat glossed over the top of the ball without even grazing it and Lauren was left staring at Bo who gave her a smirk as the ball was returned to her from Nadia.

"Told ya…"

Nadia gave her a sympathetic smile as Lauren shook her head and walked back to the sidelines with the other girls. The next batter took her position and Bo didn't even look at Lauren for the rest of the inning. The same couldn't be said for the blonde however who was staring at Bo as if she were studying her movements. Lauren never got taken by the same pitcher twice so she wanted to learn everything about Bo's game to ensure she could one up her even if it was just in practice. The competitive nature in her is what always drove her to do this and Lauren was staring at her so intently she didn't even hear Tamsin come up beside her.

"Laur…Lauren?"

"Huh? What Tamsin?"

The younger sister was more intent on watching Bo than talking to her sister at the moment and Tamsin just huffed as she stood there. "Dude, stop already."

Lauren looked at her with a questioning gaze. "Stop what?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "She got you, let it go. Focus on everything else."

Lauren sighed and rolled her own eyes. "There's nothing else to focus on. There's no speed at first so no chance at a squeeze play even though third could probably make it home. Nadia's arm is too strong and they won't chance it and end the inning and besides, Bo's ahead in the count and with her change up the batter will be out."

"STRIKE THREE."

Lauren looked at Tamsin with a raised eyebrow. "See."

Tamsin rolled her eyes and shoved the catcher's mitt into Lauren's chest. "Fine, now get your ass behind the plate."

Lauren huffed as she finished putting on the catchers gear and she moved behind the plate to warm Tamsin up a bit before the first batter stepped up. She had been catching for her sister for so long that she didn't even need to physically call in signs to her, she literally could just look at her a certain way and Tamsin knew what she was thinking.

"Alright Kenzi first then Nadia then Bo."

This wasn't the normal batting order obviously but since they were the closest the coach just wanted to get them through. Being blessed with two outstanding pitchers it was obvious that Tamsin was competing with Bo for the starting spot in the pitching rotation. It would most likely go to the older girl though but Tamsin wanted to be damn sure to give her a run for her money.

"Lemme show you how it's done freshman."

Kenzi smirked at Lauren who rolled her eyes behind the mask and took her stance behind the plate. Lauren had watched Kenzi bat enough times to know she favored low and away pitches and struggled with high and inside. She gave Tamsin the sign for a rise ball but given that it was Kenzi at bat Lauren smirked a bit and Tamsin nodded with a similar smirk on her face as well. Over the years Tamsin had perfected the ability to throw her rise ball way more inside than was necessary without it looking like she was purposely going after the batter.

"BALL."

"What the hell Lewis?"

Kenzi shot the older sister a death glare as the ball sailed past her face and she looked down at Lauren with a raised eyebrow. "Your idea I'm assuming. Cute, keep it up."

Again Lauren rolled her eyes and this time she called for Tamsin's curve low and away. When the older sister threw her curve it had much more of a drop off than Bo's did as Tamsin was more of a placement pitcher and sure enough Kenzi took a big cut at the ball but missed as it died off as it crossed the plate.

"STRIKE."

Lauren smirked and just got in position knowing Tamsin's next pitch was going to be a high fastball without even calling it in.

"STRIKE."

Sure enough Kenzi couldn't catch up to the fastball and the older Lewis was now ahead in the count. Lauren chuckled as she called for a changeup inside knowing it would catch Kenzi off guard.

"BALL."

Lauren was surprised Kenzi hadn't swung but now she was really laughing to herself. They say for most pitchers the change up is the 'show me' pitch meaning you get the batter looking one way and deliver the next pitch hard another. In this case she knew Tamsin had enough heat to just blow by the petite girl so she called for a fastball down the pipe and with a hard swing and miss Kenzi was the first out.

"Next…"

Kenzi glared at Lauren who gave her an innocent laugh and Nadia walked up to the plate with the bat in her hands. Lauren knew Nadia was a pretty balanced hitter so she called a varied sequence of pitches before she finally got the other catcher to pop one up that Tamsin caught easily in the infield.

"Dennis…"

Bo walked up to the plate with the bat in her hands and shook her head slightly as she looked from Lauren to Tamsin. She kicked the dirt a bit to dig her right foot down some before glancing at Lauren. "She tell you why she's so pissed yet?"

Lauren looked a bit startled but just shook her head. "No and I don't care."

Bo smirked. "Okay freshman…whatever you say."

Lauren glared up at her and she wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk off of Bo's face. She stared at Tamsin and the older sister knew exactly what she was thinking and nodded indicating she was ready. Tamsin went through her pitching motion before delivering a high rise ball that Bo didn't even flinch at.

"Gotta do better than that Lewis…"

Again Lauren rolled her eyes as she threw the ball back to her sister. Bo was a solid batter and actually had a pretty high batting average so she was going to be more difficult to sit down than the first two. The next pitch called for was a fast ball up and in and Bo let it go but this time the strike was called much to her annoyance.

"How's that?"

Lauren really shouldn't have said anything but Bo was pissing her off so she let the comment slip without even thinking. Bo looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and just nodded as if to say, 'okay bring it on' before turning back to Tamsin. The two breaking balls that came next were split with a ball being called on one and Bo tipping the second one foul.

"What else you got Baby Lewis?"

Bo was now fully goading her and Lauren huffed. Her instinct was to have Tamsin throw up and in to send a message but that would bring her to a full count and put her at a disadvantage. No matter how annoyed Lauren got during the game she never put her pitcher in a bad situation so she couldn't do that.

The next logical move was to have Tamsin throw low and away with the hopes that Bo either swung over the top of it or tipped it foul again but she knew the brunette was too smart for that. It's what Bo would do herself so she should be expecting that to come and Lauren did not want to become predictable.

Finally she called in the sign and took her stance. It didn't happen often but Lauren was actually just hoping Tamsin could out muscle the batter and even the older Lewis gave her a WTF look when she called for the pitch. Shaking her head slightly Tamsin nodded as if to say, okay then, and began her wind up. A fastball right down the middle was the last thing Bo should have expected with the count even and as she swung and missed Lauren breathed a sigh of relief as the ball snapped in her glove.

"STRIKE THREE."

Bo gave Lauren a disbelieving look as she couldn't believe the freshman had the audacity to come at her like that. As much as it annoyed her she also found herself respecting the decision a little and she had to smirk and nod towards Lauren as if to say, 'good going' as she trotted back to the sideline. Lauren gave her a small smile as she understood what the nod meant and even Tamsin raised her eyebrows at her younger sister in surprise.

"Don't pull that shit again Laur…"

Tamsin laughed as Lauren threw her the ball and Lauren just shook her head in agreement that she wouldn't. The rest of practice went by fairly smoothly and as she was picking up the equipment as normal a different voice stopped her this time.

"Hey freshman…"

Bo smiled at Lauren as she handed her the extra balls she'd gathered and helped the blonde put them into the bag. Lauren gave her a shy smile and tucked the hair that had come out of her ponytail behind her ear unconsciously. "Hey Bo."

The brunette stood up straight and gave her a curious smile. "So…good job today."

Lauren smiled. "Thanks."

The blonde wasn't really sure what to say since this was literally the first conversation she'd had alone with the older girl. They both kind of stood there in silence for a few seconds before Lauren finally just blurted out the first thing that came to mind in effort to calm her nerves. "You need to control your glove hand when you wind up for your fastball."

Bo laughed. "What? Oh my god freshman turn it off!"

Lauren just shrugged. "Sorry, it's what I do. When I'm nervous."

Bo smirked. "Do I make you nervous?"

Lauren shrugged again. "Sort of. I mean your reputation precedes you so…"

Bo raised her eyebrow. "Oh does it? How so?"

She was now leaning against the railing next to where Lauren was standing and the blonde's eyes bugged out a bit as she realized how that sounded. "Uh…well…no I mean you're a great pitcher so…"

She knew she was failing badly at trying to backtrack and Bo's laughter was not helping. She just glared at the brunette who just nodded. "You're hilarious Baby Lewis just like your sister."

Lauren sighed at the use of her team given nickname from hell. All her life she had been known as Tamsin's sister and now she was seriously reconsidering her decision to join Tamsin at UCLA. Lauren let out a frustrated grunt as she threw the equipment bag on the truck and turned to walk away.

"Hey what happened?"

Lauren just turned and looked at Bo with an even stare. "My sister and I aren't the same person you know."

Bo gave her an unreadable expression. "I know Lauren."

The blonde heard the different tone in her voice but at the moment she was too confused to try and figure out what it meant. She rolled her eyes as she saw Kenzi approaching and just turned to leave not wanting to stick around and be part of whatever conversation was about to unfold. If she had looked back though she would have caught Bo watching her walk away and even as Kenzi approached the taller brunette didn't break her gaze.

"Hey, Bo-Bo you alright?"

Bo just nodded as she finally looked down at Kenzi. "Fine."

She gave her a tight smile and nodded at the shorter girl who was giving her a confused look. Bo wasn't quite sure what happened just then with Lauren but now she was sort of interested in finding out. She shook off the thought however as Kenzi talked her ear off about something or other knowing her best friend wouldn't understand. She noticed Tamsin glaring at her as they walked to the locker room and she didn't realize Tamsin had seen Bo watch Lauren walk away and the big sister in her had kicked in full force.

It's not that she hated Bo, but she wouldn't be sad if her sister stayed far away from the brunette who she considered more trouble than she was worth. Bo just sighed to herself as she followed Kenzi to the locker room. She wasn't going to worry about the Lewis sisters at the moment as all she wanted to do was take a shower and rest before their game the next day. Softball came first in her mind, then school, then all the rest of the drama that seemed to follow her wherever she went.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Let's go Lewis and Baby Lewis, get it together!"

The assistant coach called over to the sisters in the locker room where they were suiting up for their first official collegiate game together. Sure it was just a pre-season exhibition game but it was still one of those moments that Lauren had been looking forward to her entire senior year of high school. She had loved playing with Tamsin when they were younger and now that they had made it to the next level together it was going to be incredible. Or at least fun. Maybe something out of "A League of Their Own" which, by the way, was both of the sister's favorite movie for obvious reasons.

It was the second exhibition game of the pre-season and Bo and Nadia had done a fantastic job of handling the team from Washington with little effort. The bats were also hot in the pre-season opener and Lauren had done better than expected as she filled the DH spot for the starting right fielder who had numerous defensive awards but couldn't swing the stick to save her life.

Lauren probably wouldn't get to see much time behind the plate but given her reputation as a true utility player the coaches wanted to work her around a bit during the pre-season to figure out where she would be most useful throughout her career. Even in practice she'd cycled in with the starters covering the infield and outfield quite well and she had definitely impressed the head coach with not only her skill but her work ethic. She never complained about the drills she did and often put in extra time on the field when her studies allowed. She was the complete package and her softball IQ was off the charts so they knew she would slide right into the starting lineup once she had this first season under her belt if not sooner.

As a bit of a treat for her Coach Inouye-Perez told her she'd get her chance to catch for Tamsin in today's game and she had been really amped up for the game ever since she found out. Even their parents had flown down to take in the game and didn't care that it was an exhibition game and didn't count. They were supportive of their daughters and all but Lauren and Tamsin both had the distinct feeling that they were doing this now so they wouldn't have to fly down again during the regular season.

"Let's go freshman."

Nadia was standing in the doorway giving Lauren an amused smile and motioned for her to hurry up. She was going to walk Lauren through some last minute pre-game stuff as she could tell the young girl may have nerves of steel in practice but this was her first game in a Bruin uniform so she was rightfully a bit jittery. Tamsin nodded to Lauren to go ahead as she followed her out and the three of them all but ran into Ciara who was coming down the steps to the locker room.

"Oh, hello."

She stood up straight and gave them all a warm smile letting her eyes linger on Tamsin for just a second before Nadia stepped forward and gave her a hug. "Hey C, good to see you here."

Ciara nodded. "Just wanted to wish you all luck and finally get to see this one play."

She nodded her head towards Tamsin who just smiled uncomfortably before mumbling something and dragging Lauren with her before she could even say hello. They took a few steps towards the field before Lauren looked over at her older sister. "Okay, what was that?"

Tamsin just shook her head and grunted. "Let's warm up."

Lauren sighed and nodded as she followed Tamsin into the field to stretch with the team. The trainers were there to loosen them all up and after stretching out for about ten minutes the two sisters headed to the bullpen to loosen up Tamsin's arm. She threw a few warm up pitches then they went through her normal selection of pitches before the older Lewis threw a few fastballs at full speed. Sufficiently loose she nodded for Lauren to relax and the younger and shorter sister jogged over to her sibling with a smile on her face.

"Tamsin, just tell me what's going on. You get all tense when you hold things in and you pitch like crap."

Tamsin looked at her with disbelief on her face before finally laughing and kicking the dirt a bit as the sisters watched the rest of the team warm up. "Me and Ciara were friends last year until we had a falling out. Sort of."

Lauren cocked an eyebrow. "Friends?"

Tamsin nodded. "Yeah friends. She was the talented senior I was the incoming freshman and she kind of helped me navigate this team and school in general."

Lauren frowned. "So what happened?"

Tamsin bit the inside of her cheek as she stared out at the field not looking at Lauren. "Bo Dennis. She thought Tamsin and I were getting to close, or in her definition of too close so she started trouble."

Lauren looked confused. "Why did she care?"

The older sister finally looked at her younger sibling. "Because she and Ciara used to be a thing. And apparently in Bo's world those ties never break. She didn't like Ciara hanging around with me."

Lauren sighed. "It doesn't make sense. Is that why Kenzi doesn't like you, or me for that matter?"

Tamsin laughed. "I wouldn't worry too much about Kenzi. She's all bark no bite, and besides she's pretty much Bo's lap dog."

Lauren peered up at Tamsin. "What was the falling out?"

Tamsin sighed. "It was stupid really. I did kind of have feelings for Ciara but it might have just been due to being close friends with her more than anything and her helping me out like she did. Anyway Bo got it in her head that I was 'moving in on her territory' or something stupid like that and Kenzi baited me into an argument about that one day. You know how I like a good fight."

Lauren laughed and nodded her head as she waited for Tamsin to continue. "Anyway, it got back to Ciara and when she asked me about it I just didn't know what to say. So I kind of started avoiding her and eventually just stopped being friends with her. I shouldn't have let it get to me but I did and now I just don't know how to act around her."

Lauren bit her lip. "Maybe just try talking to her? Explain what happened?"

Tamsin shook her head. "I doubt she'd even care. She graduated and left and I think the only one who keeps in touch with her is Bo."

Lauren nodded. "So you and Bo aren't friends then I take it?"

Tamsin shrugged. "We're kind of not really anything. I mean don't get me wrong, she's fine as a teammate and all but I just don't know what to think, especially after I kind of lost my shit with Kenzi that day. I don't really know or care what they think about me so I just ignore it."

Lauren sighed as she looked at the rest of the team warming up. She noticed Kenzi and Bo talking to a couple of guys as they stretched out and Lauren's brow furrowed a bit as she watched. "Who's that?"

Tamsin followed her gaze and rolled her eyes. "I don't know their names but I've seen them around a few times. The shorter dude is Kenzi's man candy apparently and rumor has it the taller one is after Bo but she's not interested. Seems half this city is after Bo."

The last part was said with a bit of disgust and this time Lauren followed Tamsin's gaze to Ciara who had walked over to chat with the foursome. A few minutes later the PA announcement was made for both teams to return to the dugout and Lauren and Tamsin made their way over with the rest of the team as they waited for the starting lineup to be announced.

"Hey, Lauren."

Bo gave Lauren a warm smile and the younger Lewis sister gave her a polite smile in return. She was still trying to process the story Tamsin had told her and she just couldn't picture Bo being that cruel. Her gaze drifted ever so slightly behind Bo and she saw Kenzi stretching out and she narrowed her eyes just slightly knowing that girl may be the real cause of the trouble Tamsin had. She had already experienced how welcoming Kenzi could be and if she thought someone was going to be trouble for her best friend she could picture the petite girl going to no lengths to ensure that didn't happen. The question is, does Bo know what happened?

"Hi Bo."

The brunette pitcher smiled and patted Lauren lightly and a bit awkwardly on the shoulder. "Good luck today."

Again Lauren just nodded politely. "Thank you. And great job yesterday."

Bo gave her a killer smile. "Thanks. Glad you noticed."

She walked away with a bit of a spring in her step and Lauren sighed as she watched her for just a second longer than she probably should have.

"Don't worry about her and focus on the game freshman."

Nadia had come up beside Lauren and saw her watch Bo walk away. She shook her head knowing how influential Bo could be and she hoped Lauren wasn't one of these doting freshman who was going to have her heart stomped on. Over the past few months Nadia and Lauren had managed to actually become friends and the upperclassman often helped Lauren out with whatever she needed if Tamsin wasn't around. The older Lewis had already given Nadia the protective older sister speech and Nadia had assured her she had no bad intentions. She was just a friend and someone Lauren could turn to if she needed help and would look out for her and that's all.

"Hey Nad."

"You ready?"

Lauren took a deep breath. "Does it matter?"

Nadia laughed. "Nope. Just relax, you'll do fine."

The PA announcer did his thing and before Lauren knew what was happening she was running out onto the field and found herself behind the plate already taking some warm up pitches from Tamsin. She looked around and took in the perfectly manicured stadium and the large scoreboard with the big screen and for a second she felt like a fish out of water.

CRACK

The sound of the ball hitting her glove snapped her back to reality though and when she looked back at Tamsin who was giving her a concerned look she just smiled and threw the ball back to her with confidence. This was her sanctuary, her place where all her troubles just fell away and the one place where she felt right at home. This was where she grew up, where she dealt with her problems and where she would always find solace no matter what was going on around her. This was her world and she wasn't just good at what she did, she was great.

"Batter up."

Those words were heavenly in her ears as she jogged to the mound in ritual fashion. For all the years she'd been catching for Tamsin they had their little quirks and the coaches were allowing them some freedoms within reason. She lifted her mask and smiled as she nodded to her sister.

"Gametime."

Tamsin just smiled and slammed the ball into her glove a few times as she nodded and Lauren jogged back to home plate. One of the things that Lauren really liked about the UCLA coaching staff is they allowed the catcher to call the pitches throughout the game and weren't forced to relay in calls from the bench. There were times of course depending on situation where the catcher would defer to the coach for preference, but the expectation was for them to be able to call an entire game.

Another ritual that the Lewis sisters had was that the night before they went through the opposing team's lineup and planned out ahead of time how they were going to attack the batters. Both sisters were incredibly gifted in being able to retain loads of information quickly and both of them could probably rattle off exactly how they were going to attack each batter without even having to look at the players statistics. They already studied the tendencies of the batters, where their hot and cold zones were, who had speed and who normally swung for the fences. They knew their oppositions strengths and weaknesses and even the opposing coaches tendencies to play small ball over letting the girls swing normally. Basically the Lewis sisters reputation of being able to outsmart and outthink any opponent wasn't to be taken lightly and most coaches they faced knew that.

The first batter stepped up to the plate and Lauren stared at Tamsin who didn't even need to wait for a signal. This girl was fast and a slap hitter so they needed to keep the ball outside so she'd have to wait for it. As a left it was to her disadvantage to try and hit outside towards third base then run towards first. Lauren had pointed out that the girl also struggled with high pitches according to her stats so Tamsin knew she would be throwing a lot of rise balls outside.

"Foul ball."

As expected the girl tipped the first pitch foul and did so again with the second. Now forced to actually bat she was subject to guessing which pitch was coming so when Tamsin threw a slow changeup right down the middle she was way out in front of it for strike three. The second batter up couldn't hit anything below her waist but also didn't lay off anything that low either so four pitches later Tamsin had her second K. The third batter popped the first pitch up right over home plate and Lauren easily caught it for out number three and just like that they were jogging into the dugout for their first at-bat.

"Good job kid."

Lauren high fived her sister as they jogged down the steps and even Bo looked impressed at how flawlessly they'd handled the first three batters. She moved over and gave Tamsin a high five before patting Lauren on the shoulder. "Made that look easy."

Lauren shrugged. "It is easy."

Bo stared at her as if trying to figure out if she was just cocky or confident and finally just chuckled. "Well, anyway, good job."

It was Lauren's turn to stare at her as if trying to figure out if she were being genuine or not. She wasn't the type to let other people's perspectives influence her but given the possible involvement in Tamsin being so unhappy she couldn't help but feel a bit biased against the brunette.

"Baby Lewis, you're up."

Given her speed and outstanding batting performance yesterday the coaches had moved her into the fourth spot in the lineup to see if she would blend well there. This years team didn't bear a lot of long ball hitters but their on base and slugging percentages were through the roof so Lauren had a good shot of being just what they need at this position. Before she took a step she felt Bo's hand on her arm. "Her rise ball never stays in the zone and don't crowd the plate, she'll take your head off."

Bo nodded to the opposing pitcher and Lauren gave her a semi confused smile. "Thanks."

Granted, she already knew that as she'd done her homework but it was nice of Bo to offer up the helpful information without being asked. Nadia watched the interaction with some interest and noticed that Kenzi did as well. Lauren stood in the on-deck circle and watched the pitcher offer up some pitches to the batter in front of her. She identified the timing indicator she'd need given her bat speed and took a few deep breaths as she walked up to the batters box when the girl in front of her was walked.

Lauren knew to opposing pitchers her stat she was an enigma. Not really having any particular identifiable "hot" or "cold" zones she was a steady hitter who could drop balls into the holes in the defense or hit for power if need be. She took her stance and licked her lips as usual knowing she was probably going to get something low and away for her first pitch. It was the safe thing to do and something she would have called if she had an unknown batter to face and sure enough ball one was thrown well outside and almost into the dirt.

As an experienced competitor Lauren knew her patience would win this battle. As a fierce competitor she knew to push the envelope so she scooted forward a few inches and crowded the plate wanting to test how impatient the opposing pitcher would be. She took her batting stance and licked her lips as she waited for the next pitch.

BALL

"HEY! WATCH IT JACKSON!"

Unfortunately for the opposing pitcher Bo was in the on-deck circle as Lauren was at bat since she was rotating into the DH spot for this game. The accidently-on-purpose that nearly missed Lauren's head wasn't taken lightly by the team captain who was on the sideline and she charged the mound with the bat still in her hand. Luckily Lauren had heard her yell and stopped her from taking too many steps toward the field for fear she may get ejected.

"Bo! It's fine, stop."

Lauren got in front of the now angry upperclassman who was staring daggers at the opposing pitcher. It was a bit uncharacteristic of Bo to lose her normally calm demeanor like that but those who knew her best understood that the girl wore her heart on her sleeve and because of this she could be a bit impulsive at times. It's just unexpected to see one of those times be during a game when she was normally so calm and in control.

"I told you not to crowd the plate."

Bo was now staring at Lauren who just stared at her defiantly in return. "And I got it. Now get back before you are thrown out."

The home plate umpire had come over and he stared at the two girls with annoyance. "Knock it off ladies. And you, if you do that again you're out."

Bo just nodded slowly to the umpire and took her place back in the on-deck circle. She probably would have normally been thrown out of the game for that but given that this was an exhibition game the umpire let it slide. Lauren returned to the batter's box and after two more pitches she finally got one she liked and hit a hot shot to the alley between center and right field scoring the girl from second and moving the runner at first over to third as she made it to second base with little difficulty.

The rest of the half inning went by with little trouble especially after Bo hit a home run at her at bat and the rest of the game flew by with the Lewis sisters picking the batters off one by one. All in all it was a good game for Tamsin who seemed to have a bit more swagger with her sister behind the plate. She gave up only three hits in her shut out performance and the coaching staff congratulated the girls on a good game when it was finished.

"Bo?"

Lauren slowly approached the still agitated girl as she removed her cleats and uniform in the locker room. After that incident in the first inning Bo hadn't said one word to Lauren and the younger girl felt bad for getting her so angry. The brunette just looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

Lauren bit her lip a bit. "Uh, sorry for what happened today. I knew she was going to come inside I just wanted to test her is all."

Bo huffed as she threw her uniform into her bag. "You keep pulling shit like that and someone _will_ hurt you."

Lauren frowned. "I don't need you to look out for me."

Bo glared at her. "No you have big sister for that I know. Look I was just trying to be helpful."

Lauren sighed. "By getting kicked out of the game?"

Bo laughed sarcastically as she threw on her sweats and didn't even bother showering before grabbing her bag. "No, for standing up for you. Maybe I don't want to see you get hurt."

Lauren was going to open her mouth to respond when Nadia stuck her head in the now empty locker room. "Hey freshman you ready?"

Bo looked from Nadia to Lauren and just shook her head. "See you tomorrow."

Lauren blinked a few times as she tried to process how genuinely concerned Bo had sounded when she said she didn't want to see her get hurt. It was said with a softer tone and Lauren wasn't quite sure what to make of it but she sure as hell wasn't going to ask her now. Instead she just nodded. "See you tomorrow Bo."

The brunette grunted out some kind of response as she brushed past Nadia who gave her a surprised look. Of all the girls on the team that Bo was close with she definitely fell a close second to Kenzi which made sense given their pitcher/catcher relationship. She didn't think much of it though as she just shrugged and waited for Lauren to grab her bag so they could go study as they'd planned to after today's game.

As they walked out they didn't see Bo standing there watching them leave and if they had they would have seen her shake her head slightly. Bo Dennis had three rules for herself while at UCLA. Rule number one, don't fall for a straight girl. Rule number two, make sure you keep your grades up. And rule number three, never ever fall for a freshman.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Lauren sighed as she tapped her pen against the open Biology book in front of her. The huge book was one of many surrounding her as she sat in the library studying, or at least attempting to study after their exhibition game earlier that day. She always had a high after a game and when her team played well that high usually kept her going for a while so having to reign it in and study was not at the top of her list of things to do right now.

"Okay freshman either cut it out or move to another study room."

Nadia smiled at the younger girl sitting across from her and shook her head. It was a week before finals and she could tell the younger Lewis sister had some kind of nerves or something going on. In truth though the description of microorganisms and their genetic makeup that was sitting in front of her was the last thing on her mind. She was thinking about what her sister had told her earlier that day and trying to sort out her thoughts on Bo given the strange way the brunette had been acting towards her lately.

"Hey, Lauren…everything alright?"

She gave the blonde a curious smile and noticed she seemed to be jolted out of whatever thought process was running through her head. Nadia laughed and pushed her book forward a bit on the table. "Okay, tell me what's going on. You may be slick on the field but you sitting here for the past hour pretending to study isn't fooling anyone."

Lauren sighed and leaned back in her chair as she doodled absentmindedly in the open book. Probably right across some notes that she'd taken earlier but honestly she just didn't care. She looked up at the older girl with a cautious smile. "Can I ask you a question?"

Nadia nodded and Lauren bit her lip a bit as she debated on how to word her delicate question. Truth be told she probably should have just let it go but curiosity got the better of her. The downside though was that she was one of those people who is super sensitive to the feelings of others and she wasn't sure how her question would be received.

She cleared her throat. "Um well…I was just kind of wondering what's the deal with Kenzi? I mean why does she hate me so much?"

Nadia laughed softly as she gave her a gentle smile. "She doesn't hate you freshman."

Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's her not hating me? Jeez I'd hate to think what she would be like if she did actually hate me."

Nadia laughed a little louder and leaned forward across the table a bit. "It's not you she has the problem with."

She winked as she laughed and leaned back to pick up her pen and resume her studies. Lauren reached out and put her hand on top of Nadia's to stop her. "Wait, who then?"

Nadia looked up at her with a raised eyebrow before looking around. "I believe your sister has gotten the brunt of her attitude ever since she got here."

Lauren nodded. "Why? I mean why does Kenzi hate her?"

Nadia shook her head. "Let it go freshman."

Lauren shut her book and gave her full attention to the dark haired girl across from her. "I'm stubborn. It's a flaw. So what's the deal with Kenzi?"

Nadia sighed and shut her book as well and started gathering her things. If she was going to have story time with the blonde it sure as hell wasn't going to be in the middle of the library. Lauren copied her movements and soon the two were walking out of the library together towards a coffee cart that was parked not too far outside. They both ordered a cup of the hot and refreshing liquid before taking a walk towards a more deserted part of campus. With finals coming up there were a ton of students out and about trying to study, or party in hopes of avoiding studying.

"You know you're awfully annoying for someone who's new to all this."

Lauren rolled her eyes as she nudged Nadia lightly with her elbow. "Come on, tell me. Tamsin treats me like a little kid and doesn't tell me anything and I'm tired of it."

Nadia licked her lips as she sipped her coffee. "That's probably because she doesn't know."

Lauren's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Know what?"

Nadia was about to answer when Lauren's phone beeped and she rolled her eyes as she checked the message from Tamsin. **_Hey nerd, pick up some food on the way home_** _._ Lauren laughed as she showed Nadia the text. "It's hungry."

Nadia nodded. "Go on then, I'll tell you this story some other time."

Lauren gave her a look of disbelief. "She can wait. Tell me."

Nadia laughed. "Okay, but I think you're opening a can of worms with this one freshman. You sure you can handle it?"

Lauren nodded and Nadia shrugged as she sighed. "Kenz isn't really one of those girls who handles rejection well. And let's just say that her ego was more than a little bruised thanks to your big sis."

Lauren looked at Nadia with a confused expression before her eyes got big. "WAIT. Kenzi liked Tamsin? Like…no but I thought she was dating some guy?"

Nadia laughed. "She is…now. Look, bottom line is all of this shouldn't matter to you. If you want to enjoy your time here stay out of the drama okay?"

Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Like you?"

Nadia shrugged. "I listen when people talk. And Kenzi isn't the most discrete."

Lauren frowned. "So did Bo know she had a thing for Tamsin?"

Nadia shrugged again. "That you're gonna have to ask her about because I don't know."

Lauren sighed and nodded. "So let me get this straight. Kenzi had a thing for my sister, who said no, and so as retaliation she acts like a total bitch? What about the Ciara thing?"

Nadia laughed. "Oh you mean the one girl that never dated anyone on the team then took a liking to your sister? I don't know if they ever were anything because I never asked but let's just say C was the one all the girls were chasing after."

Lauren squinted in thought. "And Bo?"

Nadia shrugged. "Is Bo. Nothing more to say about that."

Lauren sighed. "So she just sat back and let all this happen?"

Nadia shook her head. "I think you give her too much credit. She seems like the queen bee but she's really oblivious about most of this. She's actually a really sweet person Lauren and she doesn't care about the drama. And she can be a good ally both on and off the field. Plus she's a damn good pitcher."

Lauren nodded as her phone beeped again. **_Any day now…_** Lauren laughed and rolled her eyes. "Okay I need to go before my sister starts chewing on her own arm."

Nadia nodded and said good night before she turned to walk back to her apartment in the other direction. After a few steps she stopped and turned back to Lauren with a smile. "Hey freshman…"

Lauren stopped and turned back. "Yeah?"

Nadia laughed. "Better watch out, Kenzi has a thing for blondes."

Lauren looked slightly horrified before blushing slightly and Nadia just laughed as she nodded. "Although this time she might be right."

Nadia winked before turning and continuing on her way leaving Lauren to watch her retreating form with some confusion before her phone beeped again. **_Dude, seriously you better be dead or two seconds away!_** Lauren huffed as she shook her head and turned to head in the direction of her apartment. She had to pass through Westwood Village on her way back to her dorm so she stopped at Diddy Riese's to get her sister one of their delicious ice cream sandwiches made with the freshly baked cookies. It wasn't exactly health food but she knew her sister loved those so she wouldn't be too mad that Lauren made her wait.

"About time!"

Tamsin feigned anger when Lauren walked through the door but that was quickly diminished when the younger Lewis produced the sweet treat. Tamsin took an enormous bite out of the slowly melting ice cream sandwich and groaned her approval as Lauren set down her bag. Their parents had paid for them to get an apartment together off campus so that Tamsin could look out for Lauren and she wouldn't be subjected to dorm life. Most of the time the younger Lewis loved it but it did get on her nerves from time to time. Luckily though the sisters got on well so it really wasn't a big deal.

"Hey T?"

"Hmmm"

Tamsin chewed her mouth full slowly and looked at Lauren with a raised eyebrow. Lauren plopped down on the couch and gave her sister a curious look. "What happened with you and Kenzi last year?"

Tamsin shrugged and took another bite of the sandwich. "Nuffin…why?"

Lauren licked her lips. "So you guys never…"

Tamsin choked on the bite that was in her mouth and she gave her sister a confused look. "What the fuck Laur? Why would you even…I'm not hungry anymore."

She threw the melting ice cream sandwich on the table and sat back on the couch with a huff. "Where did that come from?"

Lauren shrugged. "I was just wondering."

Tamsin gave her a strange look but didn't say anything further. Instead she picked up her textbook to resume her studying and basically tuned out her sister for the rest of the night much to Lauren's appreciation. The younger Lewis had a feeling there was more to it than that but for now she wasn't going to push it as she needed to focus on studying for the upcoming week of finals.

After the hellish welcome to college life known as finals week the girls returned to Canada to celebrate the holiday season with their parents and family. As expected everyone made a big fuss about the girls being back after their first year playing together and after a while both blondes got tired of answering the same questions over and over again. It was a relatively quiet holiday season and the girls had to head back to Los Angeles before the start of the New Year as school resumed on January 2nd. They arrived back at the school on the 30th of December and Tamsin promised Lauren they would do something fun for the last or first holiday of the year, depending on how you looked at it.

"This is your idea of fun?"

Tamsin had managed to convince Lauren to go out on the town and since Westwood was so populated and close to downtown it was always packed with people most of whom were drunk. It was New Years Eve and the sisters were making their way through the crowded streets towards a bar that Tamsin knew of that would serve them alcohol. It didn't hurt that they were known figures on and around campus and since the softball team did so well they pretty much got away with whatever they wanted. This type of behavior wasn't necessarily condoned by the school but they did look the other way more often than not.

"H-o-l-y s-h-i-t."

Upon entering the overly packed bar the first people the sisters ran into were none other than one very drunk Kenzi and one very annoyed looking Bo. The brunette seemed to be lecturing the smaller woman about something who was not even trying to act like she was paying attention and grinned upon seeing the sisters enter.

"Well I'll be dammed. Of all the gin joints in all the world…"

Tamsin rolled her eyes and dragged Lauren over to where the other two were. "Ladies. Getting started early I see?"

Bo nodded. "Some of us more than others."

She nodded her head towards Kenzi who was trying to flag down someone for more drinks but Lauren noticed that Bo had smiled at her directly when they'd entered and kept her eyes on her even as she addressed Tamsin. A few minutes later a fresh bottle of vodka appeared on the table and Lauren was confused as to how they even managed to get it let alone how they would pay for it. Kenzi had set out four shot glasses but Lauren put her hand up to stop her.

"I'm fine Kenzi, I don't need any."

"Oh come on freshman, loosen up. It's New Year's…we should all celebrate a new year and the start of our next championship season!"

She grinned as she poured the four shots and passed one to Tamsin and Bo before holding one out to Lauren. "So what do you say newbie?"

Lauren looked at Tamsin who just kind of shrugged. Between the two sisters Tamisn was much more the party animal but Lauren could hold her own if need be. Or at least she hoped. She'd really only drank a handful of times before but what she did recall she wasn't exactly thrilled over and still didn't understand what the big deal was with being drunk. She sighed and tentatively reached out for the glass not wanting Kenzi to have yet another reason to make fun of her.

"Cheers."

"Thata girl!"

Bo shook her head and put her hand lightly on Lauren's arm. "You don't want to if you don't have to."

Kenzi snorted. "She's fine Bo-Bo now let's get drunk!"

They all clinked their glasses together and Lauren took a deep breath before shutting her eyes and drinking the liquid as quickly as she could. Luckily for her it was actually decent grade vodka and more importantly it was ice cold.

"Ugh…that's disgusting."

She set her shot glass down and the other three laughed and nodded as Tamsin reached for her glass. "Okay Laur, you don't have to drink anymore."

"It's okay Baby Lewis, big sister is always there to protect you isn't she?"

Tamsin stared down at Kenzi with a hard look on her face. "Do we have a problem here?"

In her drunken state Kenzi couldn't even take the taller blonde seriously. "Nope, now who wants another?"

Lauren was fuming as she watched Kenzi laugh, most likely at her, and she grabbed the shot glass from Tamsin and held it out for Kenzi to refill. Bo raised an eyebrow at her and glanced at Tamsin to ensure she was okay with this but the taller blonde was more distracted by still glaring at Kenzi for making fun of her sister. The petite Russian girl paid neither girl any mind as she grinned across the little bar table at Lauren who was giving her a smirk in return. Like everything else in life Lauren was never one to back down from a challenge and as she watched Kenzi refill her shot glass she made a quick prayer to whoever was listening that this would somehow turn out alright.

"Bottom's up freshman."

"Up yours Kenzi."

They both laughed semi-sarcastically and slammed the shots back much to the displeasure of Bo and Tamsin. The night progressed on much in that fashion and at one point Tamsin tried to stop Lauren from drinking any more but backed off when her younger sister told her to stay out of it, as loudly as possible of course. Bo also tried to shut it down by telling Kenzi to knock it off but when the new bottle of vodka appeared at the table she just sighed and shook her head knowing it was going to be one of those nights.

At some point Lauren knew she was going to be in a world of hurt the next day but she was so drunk she didn't care and before she knew what was happening the entire bar was counting down from 10 to 1 and she closed her eyes and laughed as she felt a pair of arms circle around her waist. She froze for a second but she could hear Tamsin's voice next to her so she knew she was safe as her sister wouldn't let some random stranger come up and hold her like that. The only other thought that was running through her head at that point was who the arms belonged to but her eye lids were too heavy to open so she just relaxed and laughed. When she felt a pair of lips on hers the entire world stopped and she smiled into the kiss as she wrapped her arms around their neck. The only thing she could decipher was that the person kissing her was female before her mind completely blanked out.

The next morning Lauren groaned as the world around her wouldn't stop spinning and she had the distinct feeling of needing to vomit but being too sick to even want to get out of bed. She peeked one eye open and barely made out the color of the light blue sheets that were surrounding her head apparently.

Wait.

Lauren sat up quickly and immediately regretted it as everything kept spinning and now it felt like a woodpecker had taken up residence in her head. She cautiously looked down thankful that she was still fully dressed and put her hand over her mouth in shock as they were definitely **_not_** the lavender color of **_her_** sheets. At **_her_** apartment. In **_her_** bed.

"Oh good you're awake."

Lauren jumped out of her skin as Bo appeared with a smile and a plate of what appeared to be pancakes and bacon and a large cup of coffee. She set the plate down on the bed next to Lauren and set the coffee on the table next to the bed with a smile before handing the very disoriented blonde a large bottle of water and some aspirin.

"Drink, then eat."

Lauren was still in a daze as she drank the painkiller and water as directed before picking up the plate of food. It smelled wonderful but her stomach was so volatile right now she was afraid to even try and swallow food. Bo looked at her and laughed as she held up the trash can next to the bed that was lined with a few plastic bags.

"In case you can't keep it down. Although I have to say, I'm impressed freshman. Not many people will go toe-to-toe with the queen of drinking herself."

Lauren just grumbled something incoherently as she took a small bite of the bacon to try and rinse the strange taste out of her mouth. She swallowed carefully and cleared her throat before looking up at Bo. "What happened last night?"

Bo laughed and took a seat in her desk chair as she propped her feet up on the bed. "Well, you decided you wanted to have a drinking contest with my roommate and you won apparently as she stopped before you decided drinking from the bottle would be more fun."

Lauren set the plate down and covered her face with her hands. "Is that why I feel like this?"

Bo laughed softly and nodded. "Hangover 101 kid. But it should subside if you get some grease in you."

Lauren nodded. "Where is Kenzi? And why am I here?"

Bo laughed and licked her lips a bit before making a face that Lauren couldn't quite understand. "It was closer to bring you here than try and get you home."

Lauren blushed as she nodded. "And Kenzi?"

Bo shrugged. "Since you crashed here she went home with your sister."

Lauren choked on the sip of coffee she was drinking as Nadia's words from that night they were studying together came back in bits and pieces. "She went…home with Tamsin?"

Bo laughed. "Relax, I'm sure they're both fine and probably in the same state you are. But they don't get the benefit of my wonderful pancakes."

Lauren gave her a small smile and nodded as she tried to eat more of the delicious smelling food. Bo watched her quietly as she sipped her own coffee for a bit before she sighed softly. "You're not much of a drinker are you?"

Lauren shook her head. "I don't know, I haven't really tried."

Bo nodded and frowned. "Look freshman, don't let Kenz or anyone pressure you into that kind of stuff. You're lucky you were out with us and not some random friends."

Lauren nodded quietly now suddenly feeling like a little kid who was getting scolded. "I won't. I can handle it."

Bo rolled her eyes and nodded. "Whatever you say freshman."

Lauren shrugged. "Or maybe I'll just lay off the alcohol for a while."

Bo grinned. "Probably a good idea. At least for a little while. I'm sure there will be many more opportunities for you to show off your impressive drinking abilities."

Lauren scrunched her face. "Was it that bad?"

Bo laughed softly and shook her head. "No, we stopped you before you decided you wanted to pull a Coyote Ugly."

Lauren groaned and pushed the plate away from herself now fully embarrassed. She sighed and sipped the coffee again as she looked at Bo thoughtfully. "Thank you. For last night and this morning."

Bo nodded. "No problem. Although next time warn a girl that you're gonna get tanked okay?"

Lauren nodded. "Okay. Oh do you happen to know where my phone is? I should probably call her."

Bo dug around the bed a bit and found the phone under it and handed it to Lauren. She smiled at her and left the room to give the blonde some privacy while she talked to her sister.

RING RING

"What?"

Tamsin's very grumpy voice rang through the speakers and Lauren had to turn down the volume on the phone since her ears were ringing so badly. "Hey T. Just letting you know I'm up and will be home soon."

Tamsin mumbled something incoherently and Lauren took that as a sign that she understood. It almost sounded like she had her hand over the phone and was talking to someone, presumably Kenzi, but Lauren couldn't be sure. A few seconds passed before Tamsin's voice came through clearly again. "You okay this morning?"

Lauren nodded. "Fine. Bo made me breakfast."

Tamsin chuckled. "Really? Interesting."

Lauren nodded even though she couldn't see her. "How's it over there? Do I need to bring medical supplies?"

Tamsin laughed again. "No, but if you stopped for food on the way home I wouldn't mind."

Lauren laughed and looked up as Bo stuck her head back in the room. "Tell them I made a whole bunch of food so just come back over here."

Lauren nodded to Bo and smiled a thank you before she addressed her sister. "Bo said she made food so come here."

Tamsin laughed and Lauren could tell she was moving around, most likely getting out of bed. "Taking orders from her already? Do I need to be concerned Laur?"

Lauren shook her head and blushed, glad that Tamsin couldn't see her. "No you ass. Just get back over here and bring me something to change into."

Tamsin huffed and told her fine she would wake the annoying one and they'd be on their way. Lauren hung up and slowly made her way out of the room and down the hall towards the bathroom. After she was done she stumbled out into the living room area where Bo was lounging on the couch watching ESPN.

"Why are you not at all hungover?"

Lauren took a seat in the ratty arm chair that was next to the table and Bo looked at her with a laugh. "Because I didn't drink as much as you."

Lauren nodded as she held her head in her hands. "They're on their way back."

Bo nodded. "Okay, Kenzi know's where the food will be. Why don't you go back to bed?"

Lauren just sighed as she sat there. "Because moving will require me to move."

Bo laughed and sat up. "Well, at least you'll remember this."

She patted Lauren on the knee as she got up to get more coffee and Lauren watched her with curiosity. The kiss from last night suddenly came to mind and she looked at Bo with a shy smile. "Um…Bo?"

The brunette looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Lauren licked her very dry lips and swallowed slowly. "Uh…I don't really remember much about last night. Did we um…I mean…I know I kissed someone at midnight?"

Lauren looked so confused and Bo had to laugh at her expression. She refilled her cup before going back to her room to retrieve Lauren's and filled it up before handing it back to her. She patted her knee again and leaned down to look at her with a smirk. "Hangover 101 part 2. If you can't remember it, don't worry about it."

She winked at her before moving back to the couch and flopping down again. Lauren looked at her in annoyance as she sipped her coffee and tried to remain as still as possible. She didn't have the brain power to try and figure out what happened and she hopped the pounding in her head would subside soon so she could in fact go back to sleep. She watched Bo watch tv and shook her head, metaphorically speaking of course. For all the bad she'd heard about her it didn't seem like any of it was true based on the way the brunette was taking care of her and how nice she was being. Lauren wasn't sure what to think and she decided that tomorrow she would put some real thought into figuring that out. But for right now, she just wanted her coffee, her quiet and to figure out what the hell happened last night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Let's go ladies!"

It was time for the team to officially kick off their season and were currently on a flight headed to Hawaii to defend their title in the Oceanic Time Warner Paradise Classic where they'd claimed first place over the host team the previous season. School had resumed a few weeks ago and with practice in full swing Lauren hadn't had a lot of time to dwell on what happened that very eventful New Year's Eve. She'd thought about it now and again and was most certain Bo was the one she'd kissed but she just couldn't know for certain and she wasn't sure how to go about asking. She contemplated asking Tamsin once but she felt embarrassed and she didn't want a lecture about being responsible so she let it go. Thankfully so did Tamsin and she chose to pretend nothing happened for her own sanity's sake.

She'd thought whoever it was would have said something by now but to her surprise no one was doing anything out of the ordinary so she was having a hard time figuring out what really happened. She had noticed a few minor changes though, with the most obvious being the fact that Nadia, Bo and most surprisingly Kenzi had started treating her a little better. Granted Nadia had always been the one that was nice to her but it was a different kind of nice and Lauren wasn't sure what to make of it. Seemed however that the nice Nadia was to her the nicer Bo was as well. Now, as an athlete Lauren could tell something was off between them most notably when they had their final scrimmage before leaving for Hawaii. She could tell the pitcher and catcher weren't quite on the same page and even the coaching staff made a few comments about them getting their shit together before the season started.

"Hey, freshman."

Kenzi sat down in the empty seat next to Lauren who was looking at her as if she had two heads. How this girl went from hating her one minute to being friendly towards her was a complete mystery to the younger sister. She suspected it had something to do with that night, and she was certain that holding her own with the Vodka had something to do with it, but Kenzi had just laughed it off saying she was just giving her the freshman welcome and that it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Get out of my seat Malikov"

Tamsin was standing over Kenzi and motioned with her thumb for the shorter woman to vacate the seat she was in. They were three hours into the flight and Tamsin couldn't wait to land. Apparently she'd been the unlucky sister to have a fear of flying and as much as Lauren tried to comfort her she always hated it.

"Easy SheMan. I'm going."

Kenzi got up and moved back to her seat next to Bo with little fight and Tamsin just rolled her eyes as she flopped down next to her sister. Lauren had noticed things between Kenzi and Tamsin had changed slightly as well but they still pretty much seemed to hate each other so she didn't think too much of the change. It did make her wonder though what happened that night since Kenzi stayed with Tamsin while she had passed out at Bo's place, but common sense told her she may be opening Pandora's box so she let it go. For now.

A few hours later the team found themselves exiting the plane and heading to baggage claim at Honolulu International Airport. The first thing Lauren realized was how humid it really was even with the light breeze and she was certain it was going to be an uncomfortable week in the islands. The team boarded the charter bus they'd rented and headed into Waikiki where they would be staying for the duration of their visit. The field where they would be playing was a short drive from the touristy area and Lauren was amazed at how many people could fit in one small section of city right along the water's edge.

They got to the hotel and immediately went up to their rooms to drop off their luggage and settle in a bit. It was Sunday afternoon and the teams wouldn't begin practice until the following day to allow for the jet lag to wear off. Last year the tournament consisted of four teams including the host team however this year it expanded to eight teams with the Univ. of Hawaii making it to the NCAA tournament a few years ago. Given their slight uptick in caliber other schools were taking notice and along with UCLA there were now two other top 25 teams attending including Arizona and Texas A&M. All of the teams were scheduled to arrive that day and there was going to be a welcome dinner held at the hotel they were all staying at to open the tournament. For what it was worth Lauren was pretty impressed by everything that was going on for them and she had to appreciate the fact that she was part of a large program like this one.

"Let's go kid."

Tamsin grabbed the room key and headed towards the elevator. It appeared she and Tamsin would be sharing a room with Nadia and Bo for the week. The coaches had divided up the rooms and she wasn't sure why but she got put in with them and now she was feeling a bit nervous as she had noticed some of the interaction between the starting pitcher and catcher and knew it wasn't quite as friendly as it used to be.

"Well, this should be fun."

Tamsin grunted as she swung open the door and walked inside. Bo and Nadia had gotten to the room first and it appeared they had no desire to sleep in the same bed so they were sitting on opposite beds. Lauren almost had a heart attack about how to handle the situation but luckily big sister saved the day.

"Oh hell no. I'm crashing with Lauren, you two figure it out."

She pushed Bo off one of the beds and threw her bag down on it. Bo glared at her and opened her mouth to speak but Nadia just stood up and sighed. "It's fine. I'll just sleep on the couch."

She pointed to the small couch in the room and shrugged as she went over to make herself comfortable. Bo didn't say anything as she started digging around her bag for a change of clothes and Lauren just stared at her for a second before sighing and putting her own bag on the bed Tamsin was sitting on. A few hours later the four of them were showered, dressed and mostly hungry…ok starving, so they headed down to meet the coach at 5:30pm as directed.

The team filed into the large banquet room on the second floor of the hotel and Lauren was amazed at how many people were in there. She understood how many players and coaches were on each team but it was a far cry from seeing all eight teams together plus their coaching staff plus some of the host school's distinguished guests and supporters attending the dinner. The room was set up in standard banquet fashion and the team took their seats on three of the large tables towards the back of the room. It appeared there was a podium set up and sure enough shortly after all the teams were seated Bob Coolen, the UH head coach, stepped up and said a few worlds of welcome and wishing everyone a fun and safe tournament and soon the food was being served.

The meal mostly consisted of everyone making small talk but shortly after it was done some of the girls from the various teams began socializing, most likely those who knew each other from previous meetings. Lauren had the distinct feeling of being watched as she knew there was a reputation she had going for her and since she was sure very few if any of the girls had ever seen her play before it was to her advantage.

The night was spent mostly with Lauren making small talk with the members of her team as well as some of the girls from the other teams. She wasn't used to being in such an environment and she had to admit she was slightly awe struck as she recognized some of the girls as those she strove to best one day while she was growing up. Tamsin stuck by her side for the most part knowing this type of event really wasn't Lauren's thing and she was once again grateful she has such an amazing sister. That night they made it back to the room with little fuss and all four girls were soon sleeping after an exhausting day.

Monday and Tuesday were slated to be practice days for the teams giving half the teams a 2 hour slot on Monday to use the field and the other half the same time slots on Tuesday. UCLA had been given a Tuesday slot so they were treated to tour of the island on Monday and got to spend some time wandering around the UH campus as well as Waikiki. Once again Lauren noticed it seemed to be herself and Tamsin, Bo, Nadia and Kenzi that stuck together throughout the day and she really wasn't sure what the deal was with all of that.

That night when they got back to the hotel after a team dinner Lauren found herself alone in the room with Nadia as Bo had wandered down to Kenzi's room and Tamsin was in the shower. Nadia was stretched out on the couch reading for one of her classes and Lauren awkwardly sat there with one of her own text books open not really knowing what to say.

"If you have a question you can just ask you know."

Nadia hadn't looked up from her book but she could feel the younger girl staring at her. Lauren sighed and tapped her book a bit with her pen. "No question…well…okay maybe one."

Nadia laughed and shut her book as she looked at Lauren with an expectant smile. Lauren had to stop for a minute and really look at Nadia and she didn't know why she hadn't seen how beautiful she really was. The younger Lewis stumbled for a second and for some odd reason she found herself blushing as she tried to figure out how to nicely word her question.

"Well um…you know, I mean, I don't really remember—"

"Hey Laur can you hand me my shirt?"

Tamsin had emerged from the bathroom after her shower in her sports bra and was apparently looking for the shirt that was next to Lauren on the bed. She sighed and threw the piece of clothing unnecessarily hard at Tamsin who just kind of raised her eyebrow as if to say 'what is your problem?' before putting on the item of clothing and lying down on the bed. Lauren just looked up at the ceiling in slight frustration. She had finally had an opportunity to ask Nadia about New Year's Eve and in all honestly she was the only one that Lauren felt safe asking about that night but that chance was now gone.

"Lights out."

Bo motioned to the Coaches walking down the hall doing curfew checks and the four girls groaned a bit as they all climbed into bed. As Lauren shut the light next to the bed off she laid there in slight anticipation of what was to come in the week. True she'd been practicing with them and they'd played a few exhibition games as a unit but this was the start of her first season at the collegiate level. As an athlete, Lauren was confident that she would be able to perform when called upon to do so. As an eighteen year old on the national stage that the States provided playing in a location she'd never been to before, well, she was a bit overwhelmed.

"Go to sleep Laur I can hear your brain working."

Tamsin grumbled beside her sister softly and Lauren rolled her eyes as she turned on her side and tried to get some sleep. Their team had the second to last time slot with that being given to the host school so they didn't need to be on the field until 1:00pm. After breakfast with the team at 9:00am and a team strategy meeting at 11:00am they soon found themselves on the bus to head over to Rainbow Stadium.

They spent the next two hours working out on the field and getting used to the playing conditions although Coach Coolen had cautioned them that just because it was a bright and sunny day today didn't mean it wouldn't be wet and humid tomorrow. The downside of playing in Hawaii during the month of February is that it was in the middle of the rainy season so the weather was quite unpredictable.

After practice and dinner with the team the girls were allowed free time to themselves before lights out. Most of the girls wandered around Waikiki shopping and goofing off but ever the serious competitors the Lewis sisters did what they always did before a game. They got out the stat sheets provided by the coaching staff and any notes they'd gained through interaction with the team and others on the players and they started to map their way through the opposition for tomorrow. It was a double header with games in the morning and afternoon for them so they wanted to be sure they had what they needed in case they were ever called in.

"Don't tell me you two are actually studying?"

Bo looked at them skeptically as they'd spread the paperwork out on the bed while she was changing to head out with Kenzi. Tamsin mostly ignored her statement while Lauren just looked up and shrugged. "It's what we do."

Bo watched them quietly for a few minutes and listened to them discuss the batters and the lineup before she finally cut in. "Hold on, why would you throw breaking balls to Miller? She eats those up."

Lauren glanced at Tamsin before looking at Bo. "No, she really doesn't."

Bo looked confused. "We usually go after her with heat."

Lauren flipped one of the pages and handed it to Bo. "Which she hits more often than not. She faced you fourteen times last year for ninety two pitches. Fifty of those were balls or foul tipped, twenty seven of them were strikes delivered as off speed or breaking balls which she took strikes on or popped up for an easy out. Of the remaining fifteen in the zone you threw fastballs and she made solid contact on seven of them four for RBI's."

Bo looked at Lauren with her mouth open a little as she glanced down at the paper. "Holy shit. You're like a walking scouting report."

Tamsin looked up and smirked. "The kid here has an uncanny ability to learn this shit."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "It's easy really."

Bo shook her head. "No it's freaking weird is what it is!"

KNOCK KNOCK

Bo opened the door and let Kenzi into the room. "What up peeps."

Bo smirked. "You gotta see this shit. Okay brainiacs…what about Kenzi?"

Tamsin sighed and grabbed another paper and scanned it for a second. "Against McMillan who she'll face tomorrow she's gone twelve for twenty nine over her career."

Lauren glanced at her sister and without even hesitating she looked up at Kenzi. "You switch hit eighteen of those times but that's to your disadvantage when you only got on base twice. Her pattern against you is in, out, out, in, out, in. She'll mix up her off speed with fastballs but doesn't throw breaking balls yet you have a tendency to compact your swing and more often than not you hit down the third base line and easily get picked at first."

Lauren took a breath and sighed. "Shall I continue?"

Kenzi's mouth hung open similar to how Bo's had previously. "Holy shitballs. That was amazing. Do that again."

Lauren glanced at Tamsin who just rolled her eyes. "Weren't you two headed out? Go away we need to finish this."

Kenzi plopped down on the bed next to Tamsin and grabbed one of the sheets as she scanned it not really knowing what she was looking at. "Forget going out, I want to hear more."

Bo raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Kenzi looked up at her and nodded. "Dude, this is the key to us dominating everyone. If they can't hit you then we just need to score a few runs right?"

Tamsin glanced at Lauren who just shrugged. "Okay, well if you guys want to hang out we have a lot to get through."

Bo sighed and took off her shoes before crawling on the bed next to Lauren. For the next few hours the foursome worked their way through not only the two teams they would face tomorrow but also the remaining teams in the tournament just to get a head start. Kenzi was amazed at the way the sisters were able to break down the batters and the defense of the other team indicating how and when they would shift and how to combat that.

Bo on the other hand took slight offense a few times when Lauren or Tamsin pointed out how her approach to the batter could have been more successful. At one point Bo finally texted Nadia and told her to come back to the room to join in the fun and a few minutes later the Junior catcher was sitting on the couch sorting through the stats with the other four.

"I don't know what you're talking about freshman."

Bo was irritated at a point that Lauren was making about a particular batter being able to pick off her changeup. Lauren sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Bo, I know you don't really want to hear this but it's the same way I took you out of the park that first day of practice."

The room went silent as everyone looked from Lauren to Bo with raised eyebrows. It was a bit of a ballsy move by the freshman but there was an innocence about the way she said it that kept Bo from losing her cool with the younger girl. Instead she stood up and grabbed a pair of socks that were sitting on the shelf in the room and rolled them into a ball.

"Okay freshman, show me what you mean."

She motioned for Nadia to go across the room and she backed up til she was in front of the door giving as much space as possible between them. Lauren shook her head. "Bo…"

The brunette pitcher shook her head. "Nope, you said you noticed something. I want to know what it is."

Kenzi snickered and nudged Lauren. "Might as well do what she says."

Lauren sighed and motioned for her to proceed. She watched Bo wind up and deliver a normal fastball into the pillow Nadia was using as a mitt. Nadia threw the sock ball back to Bo and the brunette glanced at Lauren before winding up and delivering her changeup.

Bo smirked and looked over at Kenzi with a raised eyebrow. "Well?"

Kenzi shrugged. "I didn't see anything."

Bo looked at Nadia. "You?"

Nadia shook her head and finally Bo glanced back at Lauren. "So what exactly do you see?"

Tamsin stood up and walked over by Nadia before looking back at Bo. "Throw the two again."

Bo huffed but did as she told and when she threw the changeup Tamsin chuckled to herself. "Wow, even I didn't see that last year."

Lauren smiled and nodded at Tamsin while Bo looked at them both incredulously. "Well?"

Tamsin smirked. "You hesitate and there's a slight movement of your elbow right before your windup."

Bo looked at her with a raised eyebrow before looking at Lauren who was nodding her head. "I saw it when you were going through your warm up pitches."

Bo shook her head and let a lazy smile grace her lips as she looked at the younger Lewis. "Wow, you really are amazing."

Nadia rolled her eyes a little as she stood up and Lauren glanced at her briefly before giving Bo a small smile and blushed slightly and cleared her throat. "Well I uh…"

Kenzi rolled her eyes. "Oh barf. Okay well I need to sleep and oh damn it's almost two in the morning."

The other girls all agreed and within minutes Kenzi was wandering out of the room while the other four were climbing into bed. Tamsin and Nadia passed out immediately while Lauren tossed and turned a little bit trying to get comfortable. Bo sighed from her bed and sat up trying to look at the blonde in the pitch dark of the room.

"Lauren? You okay?"

Lauren sighed and nodded even though Bo couldn't see her. "Fine."

Bo nodded even though the blonde couldn't see her as well and laughed softly as she laid down. "Okay."

A few seconds of silence passed before Lauren rolled over and faced the bed that Bo was on. "Bo?"

She'd whispered it in case the brunette was sleeping and wasn't all that surprised to hear a sleepy response. "Yeah?"

Lauren licked her lips and sat up a bit. "I'm kinda nervous about tomorrow."

Bo chuckled softly and scrunched down in the blankets. "It will be okay freshman. You just rely on that big brain of yours and you'll be fine."

Lauren scrunched her face. "My big brain? That's all you got?"

Bo laughed. "Your big brain is brilliant. Now go to sleep, you need your rest."

Lauren sighed and laid down trying to relax and just resolved to staring at the ceiling for a while before Bo's raspy voice broke the silence. "Freshman?"

Lauren didn't move but answered her softly. "Yeah?"

Bo smiled. "Your big brain isn't the only thing that's brilliant about you."

Lauren felt a smile creep over her face and suddenly sleep didn't seem that difficult. She closed her eyes slowly and drifted off to sleep with the smile still securely in place.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

All of her life Bo Dennis has had two constants. The first is softball. The love of the game, the applicability of it to her everyday life, the appreciation for the mental aspects of the game and how it was her mental toughness that usually helped her succeed in most situations. The other constant was her drive. It didn't matter what it was she was after, whatever it was she was successful. School, softball, maintaining her friendships and family relationships. She was good at all of it. Of course it helped that she worked her ass off at everything she did so it wasn't a surprise that she was so successful in just about everything.

Since coming to UCLA her life had really moved into a whole different gear and she was really cognizant of making sure her fun and normal growing up experiences didn't interfere with school and softball. Too many times Bo has walked away from people or relationships that she could tell would impede her ability to be successful. As a result her romantic life had been sporadic and sort of bland compared to her athletic achievements. Sure, she had plenty of boys and girls to date and most of them she really liked and appreciated the time she got to spend with them, but ultimately her drive to want to be the best she could took her away from them.

If she really thought about it she would realize that perhaps one reason she didn't have a hard time walking away from those people is because she didn't have the drive to keep them in her life. To her, those people were inconsequential. The drama was inconsequential. Like even now, with Nadia, they were still able to function on the field but she felt a slight rift between them off the field and she just didn't care why. Not because she didn't like Nadia as a person, she did value her friendship with her classmate, but she wasn't interested in the drama that may come with addressing it. So instead she did what Bo Dennis always did, she just brushed it off and kept herself focused on the present and what was to come.

"TIME!"

Bo snapped her head up and looked at what happened. "Holy shit…"

She leaned over the edge of the dugout with concern on her face. It was the championship game of the tournament and UCLA had gone undefeated so far to find themselves in a pitching duel with the host school. It was the bottom of the sixth inning and neither team had cracked the runs column yet but right now things were looking good for the Bruins. With two runners in scoring position Nadia was at bat. For the tournament the Junior catcher was batting .415 and in the 5th position her OBP was upwards of .800 for this series of games. However, all that didn't matter at the moment as she was lying on the ground holding her leg. Apparently a wild pitch by the Australian pitcher from UH went a bit too far inside and caught Nadia on her knee eliciting a popping sound as she tried to move out of the way. Coach Inouye-Perez was out on the dirt along with the trainer and the entire stadium went quiet as they tended to the all-American catcher.

"Baby Lewis! Get your gear…"

One of the assistant coaches walked by Lauren and motioned for her to grab her gear and for Tamsin to warm her up. Lauren froze for a split second before snapping to life and grabbing her gear. So far she'd been rotated into the lineup in situational instances mostly batting DH when they needed base runners but now it appeared she was going in to the game for real. After Nadia was carted off the field and to the training room behind the stadium the bottom half of the inning concluded with one runner scoring and one being stranded and Lauren found herself jogging onto the field.

"You got this freshman?"

Bo looked at Lauren for confirmation that she would be okay and Lauren grunted as she nodded and crouched down behind the plate. In her entire career Lauren had only caught for two other pitchers. Her sister for the majority of her life and a teammate the year after Tamsin had graduated from their high school. The good side to all this though was that since Lauren was such a student of the game and she'd spent time catching Bo in practice she already understood her every movement and how her ball crossed the plate.

The first batter to start the fourth inning was a left hander who Bo had sat down twice already. Lauren eased into the pitch calling knowing Bo would want to go after her right from the get go. This was the final inning of the game and if they could hold on to their 1-0 lead they would have successfully defended their title. Five pitches later she was out and the next batter popped up the first pitch which Lauren caught over the plate with no trouble. The third batter of the inning came up to the box and Coach Inouye-Perez walked out of the Bruin dugout.

"Time!"

She approached the pitcher's mound and Lauren jogged up there to meet her along with Bo who was looking slightly annoyed but also very focused as she looked at the coach intently. Lauren watched Bo watch the coach and she couldn't help but feel a sense of…something…wash over her. She wasn't sure if it was appreciation for the competitiveness of the older girl or if this made her that much more attractive but in any case Lauren wanted to help win this game and prove herself to the coaches, to Bo and most of all to herself.

"Last batter Dennis."

Bo nodded. "She can't hit the riseballs."

Lauren gave her a funny look. "Uh…actually she can, your better bet is to go breaking ball on her."

She gave Bo a slightly pointed look knowing that when the older girl got fatigued her riseballs really suffered and right now in the heat and humidity and given that it was the second game of a doubleheader that Bo was most definitely tired. Her breaking balls were her bread and butter though and Bo could throw a drop curve with the best of them no matter how tired she was.

Bo gave her an annoyed look. "Well I don't have that problem. Not now at least."

The coach looked at them for a second with a roll of her eyes. "Work it out ladies and put her away. Let's do it."

Coach turned to walk back to the dugout and Bo stood there all but fuming at Lauren. She couldn't believe the freshman had the audacity to challenge her like that especially in front of the coach. She didn't say anything as she gave Lauren one final glare before turning her back on Lauren and kicking the pitching rubber a little bit. Lauren sighed as she glanced up at the sky knowing she probably just overstepped but she was telling the truth. In the interest of winning the game it was her job to put the pitcher in the best situation and throwing riseballs now was not the best situation. She jogged back to the plate and crouched down to call the first sigh. She sighed as Bo shook off the inside curve she called and Lauren just ground her teeth a bit as she relented and called for the rise ball hoping Bo was right.

"BALL."

The first one went a little out of the zone and the batter easily laid off knowing it would be a ball. Lauren came back with a low fastball which Bo put expertly on the corner and the batter swung way too late for strike one. Lauren threw the ball back to Bo with some pop and the Junior pitcher shook her head as she kicked the dirt around the rubber again. Lauren called for an outside curve this time and when Bo shook her off Lauren glared at her from behind the mask knowing now she was just doing this on purpose. Stubborn to a fault Bo could be a bit bull-headed at times and right now Lauren was experiencing the brunt of that. After another rise ball was thrown out of the zone the count was two and one and Lauren was frustrated. They could have put this batter away already but Bo was now trying to prove a point and Lauren was getting pissed. Instead of fighting Bo to no end, and since she knew the pitcher had her preference right now Lauren just called for the riseball on the next pitch.

CRACK

The girl hit a hard shot down the alley between left and center and Bo just shook her head before slamming her fist into her glove in frustration. She glared at Lauren for a second knowing she'd something happen that she'd never done before. She let Lauren's words get to her and as a result she knew she hadn't thrown the pitch as well as she could have. The defense got the ball back to Bo quickly stalling the runner on second and now Bo was furious. She motioned for Lauren to come to the mound and the freshman catcher did after calling for time from the umpire. She sighed as she jogged to the mound removing her mask in the process and came face to face with a very, very pissed off brunette.

"You ever pull that shit again and I'll kick your ass myself. Your job is to catch…know your place."

Bo was seething as she addressed Lauren and the freshman just glared back at her without any fear or worry. "No, my job is to help you win this game. And THAT's what I was doing."

Bo put her hands on her hips. "I think I've won a few games without _you_ princess."

Lauren paused for a second and just glared at her. "So have I."

Nothing further was said as Lauren put her mask back on and turned away from Bo not giving her a chance to continue their fight. She jogged back to home plate where the next batter was waiting for her with a roll of her eyes. "Lover's quarrel?"

Lauren didn't say anything as she crouched down and got in position. The batter looked down at the freshman with a raised eyebrow knowing the girl was obviously bothered by something. Bo's reputation among collegiate softball was way off base as most considered her a player but

Lauren didn't know that and she grunted as the girl laughed. "Don't worry sweetheart she'll make it up to you tonight."

Lauren took a deep breath trying to calm herself down knowing the girl was just trying to get under her skin. Not being immune to emotion however she did grit her teeth a bit more than necessary as she called in the appropriate pitch. Luckily for Lauren her ability to focus and block out things going on around her worked to her advantage significantly and right now all she wanted to do was put this bitch down and go back to California with her first title as a Bruin.

STRIKE

The girl had swung over the top of a drop ball and Lauren didn't say anything as she threw the ball back to Bo who didn't even look at her as she turned around and scanned the field to make sure the defense was shifted properly. Back behind the plate Lauren was ignoring the batter as she called in the next pitch.

"What's the matter freshman? Dennis didn't break you in yet?"

"Knock it off ladies."

The home plate umpire shook her head at them and Lauren didn't even flinch as she got ready for the next pitch. The batter was a power hitter but she tended to gravitate to the off-speed stuff for some odd reason. Lauren called for a fastball up and in knowing it would handcuff the batter since she couldn't compact her swing.

STRIKE

Bo painted the upper corner beautifully and she was now ahead in the count 0-2. Lauren smirked to herself a bit as she threw the ball back to Bo who just slammed it in her glove a few times as she took a breath. Lauren stole a glance at the batter who was grinding her own teeth in frustration now and the corner of her mouth curled up as she called in the next pitch. Bo looked slightly surprised but nodded her acknowledgement and Lauren got in position. Bo took a deep breath and delivered the pitch after a slight pause to settle herself.

STRIKE THREE

"YEAHHHH"

The Bruin bench emptied onto the field as the girls celebrated the success of defending their title and Lauren just took a deep breath as she stood up and took her mask off. She gave the batter a sweet smile as she walked up to the mound to join her teammates in congratulating Bo. The change-up down the pipe was totally unexpected since the batter was behind and she watched it sail into Lauren's glove with ease signifying the end of the game. It's one thing to go down swinging and lose, but it's a far worse feeling to watch strike three, especially one that was served up so nicely and begging to be hit a yard.

"Good job ladies."

The coaches were out on the mound with the team and they were congratulating everyone as the team enjoyed their moment. Tamsin put her arm around Lauren and squeezed lightly. "Great job kid."

Lauren smiled up at her and nodded as she looked at Bo who was looking at her with an unreadable expression. Kenzi jumped on Bo's back in congratulations and the brunette just laughed as she high fived her best friend. After the awards were handed out the team headed back to the hotel but Bo stopped to join one of the assistants in the training room where Nadia had been x-rayed.

"So how's it looking?"

Nadia frowned and gave her a small smile. "Torn MCL."

"Fuck."

Bo rubbed the back of her neck knowing this was basically a season ending injury for her classmate and catcher. Normally ACL's can heal with 6-8 weeks of recovery after surgery but the MCL was a bit more difficult to recuperate quickly as it was very susceptible to reinjure with the slightest tweak. Nadia just nodded and patted her shoulder. "It's fine Dennis. Besides, I can redshirt and we'll pick it up next season. So how did Baby Lewis do?"

Bo huffed. "Fine I guess. We won. But then again it was only one inning."

Nadia nodded and gave her a curious look. "Hmm…okay. I heard you two weren't on the same page there for a bit."

Bo rolled her eyes knowing one of the coaches must have asked Nadia to talk to her since Lauren would have to take over the starting position now. Bo huffed again as she sat down next to her teammate on the trainer table. "She just has to get used to things that's all."

Nadia laughed as she adjusted the ice pack on her knee. "No, you two need to get used to each other. She's really smart Bo. You can use that to your advantage."

Bo rolled her eyes. "Seems you appreciate her enough for the both of us."

Nadia rolled her eyes and looked at Bo with a knowing smile. "Don't even make this about that Bo. I'm talking about on the field. You have an untapped resource and you need to take advantage."

Bo shook her head. "She has a better connection with Tamsin."

Nadia laughed loudly. "No shit Bo. Maybe it's because they're SISTERS."

Bo just laughed softly. "She's a know it all."

Nadia shook her head. "So are you. Besides, I know for a fact you like her, we ALL know it Bo. Hell even she probably knows it."

Bo looked confused. "Wait what?"

Nadia shook her head. "Nevermind. Look, I'll help her as much as I can but you need to try with her. She's still learning Bo."

Bo hopped off the table and gave Nadia a smile. "Fine, I'll try but she's so frustrating."

Nadia smirked. "Isn't that the same thing Ciara said about you when you were a freshman?"

Bo rolled her eyes. "And I proved her wrong."

Nadia gave Bo a pointed look. "And Baby Lewis may prove you wrong too."

Bo just nodded as she turned to head to the locker room. She had to get changed and join the team on the bus so she waived to her teammate who would be transported to the local hospital for a final checkup before heading back to the hotel. In the locker room Bo didn't even bother showering as she changed her clothes and grabbed her bag to join the team on the bus. She quickly boarded the bus and took a seat next to Kenzi with a big smile to her bestie who was looking very excited at the moment.

"Okay ladies, settle down. Good job today and this week. We have a lot to work on when we get home but it's a good start to the season."

Coach went on to say a few more words before the bus pulled out of the parking lot and turned down the road that runs between upper and lower campus en route back to Waikiki. Bo glanced over her shoulder at Lauren who was sitting a few rows back. Lauren had her earphones in and she was leaning back against the seat staring out the window as Tamsin sat next to her looking at some of the stat sheets. Tamsin hadn't had to pitch today as she'd done her job yesterday and like Lauren she was as much a student of the game as her sister and she was probably analyzing not only her own pitching performance but Bo's as well. Bo noticed how serene Lauren looked and she had a strange feeling come over her as she wanted to go over to her and ask what was wrong and how she could make it better.

"See something interesting there Bo-Bo?"

Kenzi smirked a bit as she looked at Bo who turned back around quickly in her seat looking slightly flustered. "No. What? No."

Kenzi nodded. "I call bullshit but whatever."

Bo raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of bullshit. Let's talk about you and Tamsin. You _still_ haven't told me what happened on New Year's Eve."

Kenzi shrugged with a smirk. "Nothing to tell."

Bo rolled her eyes. "Okay miss vague. I know something happened because no way would you and Lewis could spend that much time together without killing each other."

Kenzi waived her off. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have a problem with Tamsin."

Bo gave her an incredulous look. "Really? So what was all last year then? Foreplay?"

Kenzi hit her shoulder lightly. "Okay that's just crazy talk."

Bo nodded. "Is it? I know about last year you know. Unrequited love perhaps?"

Kenzi looked around cautiously before leaning close to Bo and giving her a menacing glare. "Look Dennis, _nothing_ happened now let it go. And last year was last year. Leave it alone."

Bo smirked and nodded. "Seems we're both wrong about how the other feels about the Lewis sisters."

Kenzi rolled her eyes. "I'm done arguing with you. Okay, you say you don't like her, fine. I'll believe you. But when you get all googly over her later don't come to me with it. I'll just say I told you so."

Bo laughed. "If I get 'googly' over her like you say then you have my permission to tell me just that."

Kenzi smirked. "The lady doth protest too much."

Bo rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, so Nadia tore her MCL…she's out for the season."

Kenzi looked concerned. "Shit dude. But hey look at the plus side, now you'll get plenty of one on one time with Baby Lewis."

Kenzi laughed to herself while Bo just shook her head. When they got back to the hotel the girls went up to their rooms to rest and change before dinner. The coaches were taking them to dinner for their last night in Hawaii before letting the girls have their final free time. Tamsin hopped into the shower right when they got back to the room leaving Bo and Lauren alone since Nadia was still at the hospital.

"Hey Lauren…"

"What?"

Lauren was still a bit annoyed with Bo from earlier in the day and even though they won and had proven successful as a pitcher/catcher combination they had a lot of work ahead of them. The relationship between these two positions was critical for the success of the team and they needed to not only get along but they needed to trust each other since they were kind of on an island during the game.

Bo sighed. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier, I think I was just caught up in the game."

Lauren looked at her patiently for a few seconds before nodding. "I appreciate your apology, and I would believe it if I didn't know that you hardly ever let your emotions get the better of you when you're pitching."

Bo ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "What do you want me to say?"

Lauren sighed softly. "Nothing Bo. Look, if we end up working together we need to trust each other right? I need you to trust me."

Bo stiffened slightly. "And I need you to trust me when I tell you something. You can analyze the stats all you want but sometimes you have to go with your instinct."

Lauren nodded as she grabbed a change of clothes. "I know. And I'll support that, but just please know my role is to put you in the best position possible."

Bo nodded and took a step towards Lauren. "I know freshman. And believe me when I say I do trust you…r judgment."

She faltered slightly and was thankful her voice kind of trailed off at the end of her sentence as she looked away before Lauren turned around. "What?"

Bo cleared her throat. "I said I trust your judgment."

Lauren gave her a wry smile and nodded. "Okay, good to know."

"Next…"

Tamsin appeared from the bathroom in her sports bra and shorts and Lauren filed in past her with a nod. Bo didn't say anything as she started digging through her bag for her clothes to shower after Lauren happy for the fact that Tamsin was preoccupied with something on her phone to ask about the weird vibe in the room.

Bo thought about the day as a whole and realized the thing that was bugging her the most was how Lauren didn't back down. She challenged her, pushed her for more, to be more. It was indescribable, but Bo realized this is something she may have been lacking all her life. Sure, Kenzi and Nadia called her on her shit but not since Ciara had anyone really seen past her outer self and made the effort to stand up to her when they needed to. Most of the girls on the team and the people she met let her get away with whatever she wanted because of who she was.

But not Lauren Lewis. No, since day one this freshman has challenged her and Bo was starting to realize how much she was enjoying this. She wanted Lauren to push her, to fight her, to show her she had what it took. Took for what Bo still wasn't sure about but she knew it was more than just what they left on the field. Bo was finally starting to see that while Lauren Lewis was complicated and difficult she was also amazing and very much worth it. She picked up her phone and after staring at the bathroom door she opened it and sent a text to Kenzi.

 ** _Screw you Malikov_**

A few seconds later a reply came in making Bo smirk: **_I told you so Dennis_**

Bo shook her head and threw the phone on the bed as she grabbed her clothes. All her life Bo Dennis had known two constants, and right now neither of those seemed to matter. She'd found something she didn't think she would while she was at UCLA. She found someone worth fighting for.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The week after the girls returned from Hawaii Lauren found herself in an unusual situation. The team had two weeks til their season home opener and they were going to spend those two weeks practicing as they had pulled out of the tournament they were supposed to play in the week after Hawaii. With Nadia's injury Coach thought it would be more beneficial for them to practice instead of playing and the absence from the tournament held no bearing on their standings so it wasn't a big deal. That first week of practice was rough for all parties but probably none more so than Bo and Lauren. She had been working with the Junior pitcher exclusively as the plan was to have her catch for Bo and another teammate catch for Tamsin when she started.

Yes, Coach Inouye-Perez was going with an unorthodox method of starting two pitchers. Normally in a program as big and successful as UCLA they would ride their star pitcher until she got fatigued or had a hard time against a particular team when she would be rotated out to another position. But not this year. With Tamsin redshirting last season the Coach had seen what the older Lewis was capable of and she knew she was in the very unique position of having two pitchers who were not only both guaranteed to be All-American's they could probably both easily compete for MVP that season. So far this theory was working out well as the two pitchers were fiercely competitive and they seemed to bring out the best in each other as they both tried to prove they deserved the coveted "Ace" slot in the lineup. Although Tamsin knew Bo would hold that title on the team she worked her ass off to show the coaches that maybe, just maybe she should be considered and Bo stepped up her game as well to ensure this didn't happen. It was a win-win situation for the team though and with the two pitchers rising to the challenge each and every time they were on the mound the coach had a good feeling about the upcoming season.

So, in effort to use her resources to her advantage as well as put her team in the best position possible she was going to rotate the two pitchers with Bo taking slightly more of the starts but giving Tamsin enough playing time for her to be ready come playoffs. That way instead of having to start and play in every game Bo could get some rest which the coach knew would pay dividends down the road. They had already discussed this and the plan had initially been for Lauren to catch for Tamsin and play infield in the times when she wasn't behind the plate. If the catcher is considered the general on the field, second base is the next in line to be the most aware of what was going on and Lauren had already proven her softball IQ was second to none. It was the second baseman's job to call the shifts and ensure the defense was in position and she had a natural ability to put people in the right spots even before the Coach relayed in the signs.

The coaches debated keeping Lauren behind the plate with both starting pitchers but ultimately they wanted to provide some flexibility there so when Bo wasn't pitching, she wasn't catching. Plus, it would help further develop her connection with the brunette as they knew she could easily step in and catch Tamsin if needed but she needed to work things out with Bo. Now that Nadia was out however most of her time would be behind the plate and so far her and the brunette pitcher hadn't seen eye to eye. All week was really spent with the two of them getting used to each other and comfortable with each other but all it had really done was ensure they were growing more and more frustrated with each other on the field. Both women were certain the other was more stubborn than them and they butted heads on their approach for almost every situational play they were in at practice.

Bo took a more head on approach often wanting to muscle through a batter or force them to hit despite the situation. On the other hand Lauren was usually thinking two or three steps ahead and she knew Bo couldn't understand why she would make certain decisions. Like today for example, they were working on situational defense and Lauren was calling for Bo to pitch high breaking balls. There was a runner on first and most likely the batter would sacrifice bunt the runner over since there were no outs. If the runner got to second they had a higher chance of getting to third on a hit and one sacrifice fly would bring them home. Bo on the other hand wanted to go after the batter and throw heat but if the girl laid down a good bunt that would force her to have to field it and it wasn't a guarantee she'd get the runner at first.

The corners were pulled in as the play was for Bo to rotate to first base if the ball was hit down that line and hopefully they could get the girl at first or, in very rare instances turn two if they could tag her on the base path. Lauren called for a breaking ball inside knowing the current teammate batting had trouble with the curve and if all went as expected she'd tip two foul which would force her to hit and more than likely either strike out or hit into a double play. Bo had other ideas in mind however and she kept shaking off the sign til the pitching coach finally stepped in.

"What is the problem ladies?"

Lauren didn't say anything as she took off her mask and looked at Bo who just shrugged. "Nothing coach."

The pitching coach shook his head and glared at them both. "Don't give me that crap Dennis. You two need to get your act together."

He gave them one final glare before going back to the bucket he was sitting on as he waited for them to get back into position. Lauren didn't want to piss him off any further but she knew letting Bo throw what she wanted how she wanted wouldn't set a good tone for the rest of the season, at least not if Lauren wanted to be able to help Bo even if the older girl didn't realize she needed it. Lauren took a breath as she tried to figure out what to do and finally she called in the sign. If Bo had to throw heat at least Lauren could help her place it in a way that would be advantageous to the defense.

The high outside fastball was in fact bunted as expected but luckily Lauren had been correct knowing the batter wasn't a strong bunter on the outside pitches. The girl hit down too hard on the ball and it took a hard bounce to the third baseman who was practically even with Bo and the girl scooped it easily throwing a bullet to first who tagged the bag and threw it to second where the girl tagged a sliding Kenzi for the double play.

"Good job defense."

Coach Inouye-Perez was satisfied they were getting in sync as needed so she called for practice to be over. They had a hard week of practice and the Coach was pleased with the effort the girls were putting in. Lauren and the other two freshman picked up the equipment before heading back to the lockers and the younger Lewis was exhausted. They had tomorrow off as it was Sunday and she was already dreading classes on Monday knowing she'd probably still be tired from their workouts this week.

"Hey freshman…"

It took all of her strength not to groan as she turned around and faced Bo who was jogging up to her. For some reason the upperclassman had stayed behind a bit and Lauren noticed they were the only two people standing on the practice field as everyone else had gone to the locker rooms to shower and leave for the night.

"Yeah Bo?"

Bo gave her a smile that Lauren had never seen, or never really noticed, before and it made her wonder what was up with the older girl. Lauren gave her a slightly more than polite smile in return and just waited patiently for whatever it was that Bo was going to ask her about. Ever since the Hawaii tournament the older brunette had been acting kind of strange around her off the field and seemed more agitated than normal with her on the field so she really wasn't sure what to expect. Bo looked around for a second and kind of smiled uncomfortably before looking at Lauren.

"Hey, so I...um…wanted to have dinner…"

Lauren's eyes bugged out of her head. "Uh Bo, are you…I mean…dinner?"

Bo gave her a blank look for a few seconds until the realization hit her and she blushed slightly and backpeddled. "Oh, OH, no…I mean, I want to have dinner yes but just to talk you know? Me and Nadia usually had dinner to kick off the season just to kind of, you know, make sure we were all good, but since it looks like you and I will be playing together I figure might as well keep up tradition?"

Lauren had to smile at the nervous rambling that Bo was doing and she nodded as she put her hand lightly on Bo's arm. "Relax, and breathe. Sure, you want to have a strategy session that's fine."

Bo gave her a curious look. "Do you always make everything sound so…clinical?"

Lauren laughed. "Well I am pre-med so that's a good thing right? Practicing already."

Bo gave her an impressed look. "Pre-med? Must take school seriously then eh?"

Lauren nodded. "For as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a doctor. Well, after softball is over of course."

Bo laughed and nodded. "Of course."

They stood there for a few seconds slightly uncomfortably before Lauren cleared her throat and removed her hand that she hadn't realized she'd never moved from Bo's arm. "Well, okay, just let me know when."

Bo nodded and was about to say something when Tamsin's voice interrupted. "Come on Laur, let's go."

The older Lewis was looking over at the pair who were still standing on the field and Lauren knew she was going to have some explaining to do to her sister once they got into the car. She gave Bo a sheepish smile and the brunette just smiled and nodded for her to go. "I'll see you later Lauren."

"Okay, bye."

Lauren gave her one final smile before turning and walking over to where an impatient Tamsin was waiting to go. As soon as Lauren got close enough Tamsin handed her the duffel bag she'd been holding with Lauren's stuff and raised an eyebrow. "What was that all about?"

Lauren shrugged. "Nothing important. Let's go."

Tamsin didn't say anything further as she took one last look over at Bo and noticed the older girl watching them leave. She knew her sister was holding out on her but right then she didn't really care as she was starving and had a mountain of homework to get through. She silently watched Lauren on the walk to her car but couldn't tell if her younger sibling was holding back because she was happy or unhappy about whatever it was that Bo said to her.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore and stopped Lauren with a gentle hand on her arm. "Hey, you sure you're okay? I mean Bo didn't…"

Lauren shook her head. "No, everything is fine Tam I promise. Now let's go I have a Bio test on Monday."

The pair got into Tamsin's truck and headed back to their apartment where Lauren promptly locked herself in her room to study for the rest of the day. After her 8:00am Bio test Lauren's next class got cancelled and the blonde found herself wandering down Bruin walk with nothing to do for the next few hours. It was the first time that Lauren had really wandered around the crowded main drag through campus and she was amazed at how much went on in the day-to-day hustle and bustle. She wandered through the middle of the pathway careful not to make too much eye contact with any one group sitting at the dozens upon dozens of tables out in the warm California sun. Tamsin had warned her that the place was crawling with club type groups who wanted you to join this and that and Lauren since had a hard time saying no she did her best to avoid them at all costs.

"What's this?"

Lauren looked at a post card thing that some blonde girl had pushed into her hands and the very bubbly girl gave her a huge smile. "Are you affiliated?"

The younger Lewis looked at the post card again and noticed script writing on one side and a series of three triangles on the other. She looked up at the girl with a confused face. "Affiliated? No?"

The girl smiled and was about to open her mouth when a voice behind them stopped her. "Oh please tell me you are not about to try Delts."

Both blondes turned to Nadia who was giving Lauren a cautious look and the other blonde girl an annoyed glare. Lauren looked at her teammate confused. "Try what?"

Nadia rolled her eyes and took a step forward on her crutches. "Don't worry about it. And trust me…don't, they're not worth it."

The bubbly blonde girl glared at Nadia while still trying to give Lauren a nice but obviously fake smile. "Hey Nadia, long time no see."

Nadia gave the girl a fake smile in return and sounded a little too upbeat for what Lauren was used to. "Hi Chrissy, yeah long time. But not long enough."

Lauren's eyes bugged out slightly at the way Nadia spoke to the girl and she followed when the injured catcher nodded with her had for them to head off. Lauren walked slowly beside her teammate who was hobbling along on her crutches pretty well considering she had only gotten hurt last week.

"So, you don't get out here much do you?"

Lauren looked around and was kind of taken aback by all the seemingly organized chaos going on around her. She looked back at Nadia with a small smile as she tucked some hair behind her ear and gripped her backpack slightly. "I usually have class during this time and don't get out until two."

Nadia nodded. "Freshman schedule I forget. Don't worry, next year it will get easier. Just gotta suck it up for this one."

Lauren laughed and nodded as the pair headed towards Powell library. Nadia had taken the Chem class that Lauren was in the year before so she had offered to help the blonde study for the upcoming mid-term. Lauren had taken Nadia's bag from her shoulder en route and the pair were laughing over something or other when they hit the steps of the library.

"Fancy meeting you two here…"

Both women looked up at Bo who was sitting on the steps drinking a coffee. Lauren stopped in her tracks almost shocked to see the brunette out among the thousands of co-eds that filtered around the large campus every day. Nadia on the other hand wore an expression that Lauren couldn't quite make out but the blonde did notice the subtle glare that Bo sent up to the girl on crutches.

"Hey Bo, don't you have Calc right now?"

Bo shrugged. "Didn't feel like going to class, decided to come here instead."

Nadia looked around with disbelief. "To the library? I didn't know you hung out here."

Bo shrugged again. "Tryin something new."

Nadia laughed and nodded her approval. "Something or someone? That cute girl from Anthropology finally work up the nerve to talk to you?"

Bo laughed and shook her head. "No not her. Just turning a new leaf this year, ya know hoping to actually graduate at some point."

Nadia laughed and nodded and soon she and Bo were immersed in a conversation about what classes they would be taking next quarter and which professors were rumored to be favorable to student-athletes. They were both business majors so their schedules often aligned making it easier on them both when they had road trips as they could study together and get through some of the more challenging assignments.

Throughout the duration of the conversation Lauren noticed that Bo never once looked in her direction. She felt kind of odd standing on the outskirts of their conversation and she tried to look and act casual but she knew she probably looked like she was highly uncomfortable by the way Nadia kept glancing in her direction.

"You okay Lauren?"

Bo finally looked over at the blonde and for some reason Lauren did a mental run through of what she looked like at the moment and was sort of hating the fact that she was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a Bruin softball t-shirt. She hadn't really expected to have to look presentable today and she was now rethinking her five more minutes of sleep over making sure she looked okay. The question remained though, why did she even care?

"I'm fine. Shall we?"

She motioned with her head towards the library and Nadia gave her a weird smile before nodding and moving slowly up the steps. "See ya later Bo."

The brunette nodded at her and gave Lauren a friendly smile. "Don't study too hard, save some of that brain power for the field."

Lauren sort of blushed and mumbled an 'okay' as she waived at Bo and led Nadia into the building. She wasn't sure why she was acting so spastic all of a sudden and the unspoken questions lingered in Nadia's eyes as well. Luckily for Lauren the other girl refrained from making an uncomfortable situation worse and they actually spend the next two hours studying only stopping for coffee and a bathroom break. As they were winding down Lauren felt immensely better that she'd taken Nadia up on this opportunity to study and she gave her an appreciative smile as they packed up their notes and textbooks.

"So you got any plans this week?"

Lauren looked up at Nadia with a small smile and shook her head. "Besides softball and studying? Haha there isn't time for much else now is there?"

Nadia gave her a patient smile. "Well you have to eat sometime right?"

Lauren bit her lip as she shoved her notebook into her backpack. "Right I suppose. Tamsin usually takes care of the food dilemma for us though."

Nadia nodded. "Okay, well if you ever want to get something with someone other than your sister you know you can always call me right? I mean we're friends so…"

Lauren gave her a genuine smile and nodded. "Thanks. Oh hey that reminds me…are you joining Bo and I?"

Nadia looked confused as she made her way out of the library waiting until they got closer to the exit to turn to the blonde. "Joining you for what?"

Lauren looked confused. "Start of season dinner?"

Nadia returned the confused look with one of her own. "Start of season what?"

Lauren looked more confused and as soon as they got outside she stopped in her tracks forcing Nadia to do the same as her voice came out a bit harsher than she intended. "Wait, you and Bo don't have dinner before the season starts to kick off the season."

Nadia shook her head slowly and laughed gently. "Sorry Lauren, I don't ever recall having dinner with Bo just by herself."

Lauren's mouth hung open slightly as she looked curious. "But she said…"

Nadia laughed and leaned a bit closer to the blonde. "Let me fill you in on a little secret. Bo wants everyone to think she's smooth and untouchable. But really…she's not. She's a bit nerdy, a bit vulnerable, a bit dorky just like the rest of us."

Nadia started hobbling away while Lauren stood there absorbing what Nadia just told her. A small smile broke out on her face as she realized what the other girl was implying and she followed her teammate with a cautious smile on her face.

"Wait, so you mean…"

Nadia stopped and laughed. "I mean nothing. I don't know what her motives are nor do I care. All I can tell you is that I've never been to one of these start of the season dinners with her. Now come on, I'm starving and by the way your phone has been going off I'm sure Tamsin is as well."

Lauren nodded and just rolled her eyes not bothering to check her phone as the pair made their way over to Tamsin's truck that Lauren had borrowed and they hopped in. Lauren knew Tamsin was the one who had been texting her by the special sound it was making and she was already mentally trying to figure out where to get food from as she guided the truck back to her place. Lauren helped Nadia out of the vehicle and they made their way up the short path to the front door where Lauren let them in.

"Holy shit."

"What the fuck Lauren?"

Lauren stood there totally shocked as she took in the scene in front of her and totally ignored Nadia laughing beside her. Her brows furrowed as she looked from her sister to the person on top of her. "Ciara?"

The alumni gave her a shy smile before looking down at Tamsin and back up at Nadia first then finally back to Lauren where she nodded and gave her a small smile. "Hello Lauren. Have fun studying?"

Lauren entered the apartment and shut the door behind her throwing her bag down not really caring about neatness right now. She motioned for Nadia to sit down at the little dining table and she put her hands on her hips. "Someone want to tell me what is going on?"

Tamsin sighed and rolled her eyes. "Don't you read your text messages?"

Lauren waived her hand signaling for her sister to shut up as she kept her eyes fixed on Ciara. She may be the younger sister but Lauren had always been fiercely protective of her sister and right now she had no interest in showing Ciara or any girl she found on top of her sister any hospitality. She waited for the two girls to sit up, thankfully they were still dressed, and Lauren sighed as she rubbed her head. "Please…start from the beginning."

Tamisn and Ciara shared a look before Ciara turned back to Lauren. "You may want to sit down this might take a while."

Lauren sighed and took the seat across from Nadia. She had no idea what was happening but between Bo acting weird and slightly jealous, Nadia kind of sort of hitting on her and Kenzi acting spastic towards Tamsin and now _this_ Lauren wasn't sure of anything anymore. She put her head in her hands and waited for the pair to tell their tale of woe and she really wished she had some alcohol right about then. As she sat there listening and sharing WTF glances with Nadia who just shrugged and paid attention to the story Lauren came to one conclusion. All of this drama seemed to be unnecessary so no matter what she would not get involved. She would take the Nadia approach and stay out of the dating circle. After all, she wasn't there to date, she was there to study and play softball. Those were her goals. And nothing was getting in the way of her accomplishing that. Nothing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Bo tapped her pen on the notebook in front of her and sighed loudly as she watched the video in front of her. It had been a long day of classes and practice and the brunette was absolutely exhausted. She hit the button on the remote and paused the game film to jot down a few notes.

"Wow, wouldn't have thought I'd find you here so late."

Bo glanced up briefly but didn't say anything as Lauren walked into the film room and took a seat across from her at the small table. She looked at the notes and stat sheets spread out in front of the brunette and she was slightly impressed that Bo was so dedicated to studying the game. She looked at the screen and noticed it was film from some of their games in the Hawaii tournament and sighed as she sat back and watched as Bo replayed a few batters that got hits off of her.

"What are you doing here?"

Bo had paused the film and took a few more notes as she tried to sound casual knowing it came out slightly accusatory. No one but Nadia knew she studied film and after three years she kind of liked it that way. She sighed as she finished her notes and finally looked up at Lauren with an expectant gaze. This was kind of her private time and she didn't like being interrupted, even if it was by an attractive freshman who seemed to get under her skin like no one else could.

"Looking for you actually. I have something to tell you."  
This piqued Bo's interest who sat up a bit and gave Lauren her full attention. Lauren pursed her lips slightly as she fiddled with the pen in her hand and tried to choose her words carefully. She'd been studying at the field, something she did from time to time as it was peaceful and quiet, when she'd noticed the lights on in the training room. When she saw Bo watching film she thought it would be a good time to tell the upperclassman what she'd been wanting to tell her for the past week every time she saw her.

"Well…um…"

Lauren paused as she tried to figure out exactly what to say. In her head she had this whole speech worked out in her head about how she was there to focus on school and she thought Bo was a great person but she wasn't interested in a romantic relationship. She had planned to tell Bo that she was flattered that the older girl was interested in her, or at least possibly interested, but they would only be friends.

Bo raised an eyebrow at Lauren's hesitation and looked at her curiously. "Hey, what's the matter?"

The blonde was slightly surprised by the concerned tone of Bo's voice and she shook her head trying to steel herself to be able to say what she came there to say. "Well, I wanted to tell you that…I think we're friends?"

Even as she said it Lauren knew she sounded ridiculous and Bo gave her a lopsided smile as she nodded slowly. "Okay, I mean yeah, I like to think so."

Lauren shook her head. "No, I mean…I just want to be friends…with you."

Bo's smile never faltered as she nodded again. "Oookay. That all?"

Lauren knew she probably just embarrassed herself but she wasn't sure how to gracefully exit the situation so she did what she always did when she panicked, she let her brain take over. She glanced up at the screen and nodded towards it slightly. "You should have gone after her, playing the outside was to her strength."

Bo sighed as she noticed the change in Lauren's attitude and she rolled her eyes slightly as she leaned back in her seat, glancing down at her notes briefly. "Her stats show a low ball hitter who struggles in the river. I thought it was the right decision."

Lauren smirked as she reached over and hit play on the remote to show the girl hitting a line drive out to the outfield. "And you were wrong."

Bo huffed slightly as she rolled her eyes again and looked over at Lauren with a frown. "Lucky hit."

Lauren shook her head. "She got a hit in the fourth inning as well. Face it, you were wrong."

Bo held her tongue as she sighed thinking to herself that this was exactly why she didn't like others watching video with her. She raised an eyebrow at the seemingly now cocky freshman. "Well I put trust in my catcher."

Lauren tilted her head slightly and laughed. "No you shook off my calls. Don't put that on me."

Bo laughed and nodded. "Fine. Maybe you were right."

Lauren nodded. "Thank you."

Bo shook her head and shut off the video. "Well how about we get some dinner and continue this debate about my player analysis."

Lauren's smile fell slightly as she stumbled a bit. "Uh…I really have to get some studying done."

Bo put her hand up. "Relax, I'm just talking about food and conversation. Nothing more. Besides, we have to do our dinner anyway."

Lauren sat up a bit straighter at that. "Yeah, about that. I asked Nadia about it and she had no idea what I was talking about."

Bo gulped slowly as she took in the way Lauren was looking at her. She knew she'd been caught but if it was one thing Bo did well it was handle herself under pressure. Sort of. "Well…I um…haha. Okay look, I just wanted to have some time with you, that's not bad right?"

Lauren tried to smile as she nodded. "Right, well like I said I really need to get some studying done."

Bo huffed. "And I said it was just a quick dinner. Come on, I'll drive."

She didn't really give Lauren any time to respond as she gathered her things and led the younger blonde out the door towards her car. Lauren looked at the old beat up Camaro with a small smile as the car seemed to really fit her personality and she climbed in carefully being sure not to sit too closely to the brunette who threw the car in drive and soon they were making their way down the busy streets of downtown Los Angeles. Lauren didn't really pay attention to where they were going as she found herself keeping her gaze on Bo out of the corner of her eye. She sighed to herself as she could feel how awkward things seemed and she tried to sit back and relax a little but she felt…nervous. And Lauren didn't know how to handle this type of nervous very well so she kept her mouth shut in effort to not further embarrass herself.

"We're here."

Lauren looked up and noticed they had in fact parked in a small lot next to an old school looking diner. A sign that read "Mel's" hung on the outside and Lauren could see a ton of younger people, most likely students, mulling around and she looked at Bo with a raised eyebrow. The bright gold USC letters were all around them and Lauren suddenly felt self-conscious in her UCLA hoodie.

"Bo?"

The brunette looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Lauren looked around slowly before looking back at the woman next to her. "Where are we exactly?"

Bo just laughed and got out of the car motioning for Lauren to do the same. Even though it was freezing the blonde slipped the hoodie off before getting out and looked around with worry. Bo laughed and shook her head. "It's fine Lewis. I used to date a guy that worked here and I got to know the staff. Most of the students know I'm the enemy but it's fine. Come on."

Lauren scooted closer to Bo as they made their way into the diner and once they were inside she looked around with a smile. The place was decorated in the traditional diner theme and it had a cozy and comfortable feel about it. Since it was later they were able to get a table right away and Lauren thankfully slid into the booth across from Bo who sat down like she owned the place. They ordered sodas and hamburgers and soon they found themselves looking at each other with not a whole lot to say.

"So…"

"So…you excited about the game tomorrow?"

It was their season home opener and would be the first time Lauren would get to play at their home stadium in a Bruin jersey. The younger Lewis sister smiled a genuine smile and nodded her head. "Very much so. I don't know how you're so calm about it."

Bo laughed and felt her own huge smile break out across her face when she took in Lauren's reaction. Bo tried to look nonchalant as she just shrugged. "You get used to it I guess."

Lauren just laughed and nodded. "Well I can't wait. Been working for this all my life."

Without thinking Bo reached across the table to put one hand on Lauren's arm. "And you're gonna be great."

Lauren stiffened a bit at the contact and pulled her arm back slightly causing Bo to retract her hand awkwardly. Lauren nodded. "Thanks."

Bo nodded and bit the inside of her cheek in slight frustration. She wasn't sure exactly what happened but it was odd for Lauren to be so guarded with her, at least form what she could tell, and she didn't like it. Their food came and thankfully the conversation lightened up allowing both ladies to resume their friendly banter that both had grown accustomed to over the past few months. Bo could see Lauren relaxing slightly and she was happy that the younger girl was comfortable with her.

The pair shared stories of their childhood with Bo asking a lot of questions about Tamsin and how their relationship had developed as they were growing up and Lauren asked Bo about being raised by her grandfather, something she found remarkable despite Bo's attempt to downplay the fact that she missed her parents. Bo recalled some funny stories that involved the team and their antics and Lauren laughed as she listened to the random things her current teammates had done throughout the years.

They hung around the diner a little while longer sharing a milkshake for dessert after Bo convinced Lauren they sold the best shakes around and the blonde had to admit the sweet treat was really, really good. As they shared the milkshake the conversation had died down and Lauren caught Bo looking at her shyly. Lauren gave her a small smile as she winced at the brain freeze and Bo laughed as she shook her head at the younger girl.

"Come on Lewis, let's get you home."

"Ughhh I'm gonna be so sick tomorrow."

Lauren groaned as they exited the diner and put her hand on her stomach as she slowly made her way towards the car. Bo laughed and followed her slowly laughing at how Lauren practically flopped down on the hood of her car in her uncomfortably full state. The blonde had rested her head on her arms and Bo took a second to look at her with a small smile on her face before climbing into the car.

Lauren grunted as she slowly stood up and got into the car next to Bo. The brunette laughed as she started the car up and navigated her way easily back towards Westwood and Lauren's apartment. The younger girl took this opportunity to really look at Bo and she sighed as she realized how much fun she really had tonight and she had to focus her thoughts on not thinking about Bo that way. As Bo drove through the streets though Lauren's gaze moved from Bo's profile in the shadows to her arms to her hands and Lauren knew she was losing the mental battle going on inside her head. She was quickly realizing that she felt something more than friendship for the brunette despite her declaration earlier about only wanting to be friends.

Perhaps it was the food coma or the fact that Bo had been nothing but genuinely nice to her tonight letting the blonde see her in a new light, but Lauren felt something she'd never felt before. Not just with regards to the older girl, but something she'd never felt, ever. Being a logical person and someone who believed in being able to figure out an explanation for everything Lauren just chalked it up to her being in admiration of Bo and wanting to get to know her on a personal level better. She still wasn't sure why she was getting the fuzzy feelings and her mind seemed to blank out the longer she looked at Bo but whatever it was she was certain would be gone by tomorrow. At least she hoped.

"Okay, here we are."

Bo smiled over at Lauren who just nodded as she slowly got out of the car. "Thanks for everything Bo."

The brunette nodded. "Any time. Goodnight Baby Lewis."

Lauren scrunched her face slightly as she nodded and turned to move away from the vehicle. Bo didn't see the expression on her face as she started up her car and slowly drove off leaving Lauren slightly deflated as she made her way up the walk towards her apartment. When she entered the apartment Tamsin was sitting at the little kitchen table they had with her books spread out and her laptop in front of her. She looked at her sister who looked slightly distressed and pushed her laptop to the side.

"What's up Laur?"

The younger sister just shook her head as she threw her bag on the couch as she walked past Tamsin without saying anything. The taller blonde stood up and followed Lauren into her room where she saw her sister changing into her pajama's and climbing into bed despite it only being ten o'clock on a Friday night.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Tamsin walked into the room and sat down next to Lauren on the bed. She looked concerned as she noticed the deflated attitude her sister had and the overprotective big sister feelings were starting to surface. "Where were you? Did something happen tonight?"

Lauren just sighed as she rolled on her side away from Tamsin not really wanting to talk about it. "It's fine Tamsin. I'm fine. Just tired."

The older Lewis looked at her sister's back and shook her head. "That's bullshit but fine, you don't want to talk we don't need to talk now but you will tell me if anything is wrong right? I'm not above kicking someone's ass you know."

Lauren rolled back over and looked at Tamsin who had retreated to her doorway as she'd been talking. "And what if that person was you?"

Tamsin's eyes bugged out both at her tone as well as what she said. She recognized the sharp tone in her sister's voice and the last time Lauren sounded like this was when she broke up with her high school girlfriend. Tamsin folded her arms across her chest and looked at Lauren with a calm gaze. "What are you talking about?"

Lauren sighed loudly as she stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know. But I'm tired of always being your little sister."

Tamsin tried not to laugh but she wasn't very successful as she shook her head. "Get over it Laur. No one cares."

Lauren sat up a bit and glared at Tamsin. "Yes they do."

Tamsin raised her eyebrow. "Who is 'they'"?

Lauren didn't say anything as she flopped back on the bed. "No one."

Tamsin's face softened as she sighed quietly. "Well if you ever want to talk about it I'm here okay?"

Lauren gave her sister a small smile as she rolled over and Tamsin gave her a lopsided smile before turning and heading back to her studies. She had no idea why Lauren was so annoyed but it was now her duty to find out what the problem was. She sighed loudly as she sat down at the table again to resume her studying and hoped she would be able to help her sister out, no matter what it took.

ooOOoo

"Hey Bo-Bo"

Kenzi greeted her best friend as Bo entered the apartment and threw her keys on the table. Bo smiled at her as she moved over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge before joining the petite woman on the couch. She laughed at the shitty horror movie Kenzi was watching and she snagged some popcorn from the bowl in front of her despite just having eaten a large meal.

"And where have you been young lady?"

Bo laughed. "Out."

Kenzi paused the movie before turning to her with a knowing smile. "With who?"

She nudged Bo who just laughed and rolled her eyes. "Lauren."

Kenzi rolled her eyes slightly but gave Bo a warm smile. "And how is the younger Lewis?"

Bo smiled. "She's good."

Kenzi nodded. "How good?"

Bo laughed and threw some popcorn at her. Kenzi blocked the snack and laughed. "Hey don't waste the snacks dude."

Bo shook her head with a smirk. "We're just friends Kenz. She made that clear tonight."

Kenzi looked at Bo skeptically. "So what's the plan here?"

Bo looked at her with surprise. "What do you mean?"

Kenzi shrugged. "I assume you like this girl so I'm assuming you have a plan."

Bo shook her head and laughed. "We're just friends."

Kenzi stood up and nodded at Bo. "For now, make sure you let me know when the next chapter of the Bo and Lauren saga starts so I stock up on popcorn and ice cream okay?"

Bo laughed at Kenzi's retreating form. "Don't you stock up on that anyways?"

Kenzi laughed over her shoulder. "Not the point!"

Bo shook her head as she heard Kenzi getting ready for bed and she sighed in the quiet room. She sat there thinking about her night with Lauren and she knew a smile was making its way across her face. She wasn't sure why she felt so giddy but she wasn't going to fight it. It had been too long since she'd felt that way and whether she realized it or not Lauren was a big reason for the brunette's happiness. For once Bo was going to just go with the feelings and let whatever happens…finally happen.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Time."

The umpire nodded as he stood up. "TIME"

Lauren huffed as she jogged to the mound where she was met with a very angry looking Bo. It was their season home opener and luckily the team from ASU wasn't the strongest competition since her and Bo seemed to be having communication issues. It was the bottom of the sixth inning and for the whole game the pair seemed to be slightly out of sync. Luckily Bo was good enough of a pitcher to work around their issues and Lauren was smart enough to adjust to the situation as needed. Even their teammates could see the pair was struggling and on more than one occasion Kenzi got on Bo's case upon entering the dugout when they were batting.

At one point even Tamsin had pulled Lauren aside to see what the problem was, especially given their odd conversation the night before, but the younger Lewis just shook her off and focused on the game refusing to talk to her older sister. Bo watched the interaction between the sisters with interest and when Lauren caught her looking over there Bo was confused by the hard stare the blonde sent in her direction. She wanted to go over and see what the problem was but she had to bat so she couldn't talk to her.

"What?"

Bo was annoyed that Lauren seemed so irritable and she just wanted to end the game so she could find out what the hell was wrong. However, the look on the blonde's face told her she wasn't in the mood for pleasantries and Bo had no clue what was going on.

"Can you put whatever issue you have aside and just finish this game?"

Bo looked at Lauren in complete shock at the younger girl's words. She wasn't used to being spoken to like that, especially from a freshman and she didn't know what was bothering the blonde but it was pretty obvious she wasn't Lauren's favorite person right now. Lauren just shoved the ball back at Bo and turned to walk back to home plate. She resumed her position behind the plate and systematically called the right pitches to put the side down in order. The team jogged to the dugout and Bo grabbed Lauren's arm to pull her over to the side.

"What is going on?"

Lauren glared at her and huffed as she shook her arm free from Bo's grasp. "Nothing is going on. Just trying to finish out this game."

Bo stared at her silently and noticed that Lauren wouldn't meet her gaze so she threw her hands in frustration and sighed. "Fine, whatever. Just stop being such a bitch."

Bo stormed off and sat at the other end of the dugout staring out at the field not saying anything to anyone. She didn't even look in Lauren's direction for the remainder of the inning. Two runs later the home team jogged back out onto the field for the final inning and Bo and Lauren still had yet to say anything to each other. The Coach noticed their tension and one of the assistants was going to say something to them but she stopped him from intervening knowing they needed to work through it.

"Batter up."

The first batter of the inning stepped into the box and Lauren relayed the signal to Bo who just nodded curtly and hurled the pitch with a little extra umph letting Lauren know she wasn't happy. The blonde retaliated slightly by throwing the ball back to Bo with probably more force than necessary and for a second Bo glared at Lauren with a raised eyebrow. The blonde just stared through her and Bo shook her head as she prepared for the next pitch. The rest of the inning went smoothly with little resistance from their opponents and soon the team found themselves gathered in the outfield for their customary after game meeting. Bo couldn't even recall what was discussed though as she followed the team back to the locker rooms to get changed.

"Lauren? Hold up…"

Bo jogged to catch up to Lauren who sighed as she paused at the request of the older girl. The rest of the team went ahead to the locker room leaving the pair alone on the field as the stadium emptied out. Bo moved in front of Lauren and looked at her with her hands on her hips and her glove tucked under one arm.

"You want to tell me what the hell was going on today?"

Lauren tucked her glove under her arm and looked straight ahead. "Nothing was going on."

Bo shook her head. "That's bullshit Lauren."

The blonde finally looked over at the brunette and gave her a small sigh. "Look Bo, it's noting. It's fine."

Bo tried another approach as she looked at the internal struggle of the younger girl standing in front of her. She softened the tone of her voice and looked at Lauren cautiously. "Lauren, something's obviously wrong. Everything seemed fine last night so what happened between then and today?"

Lauren wasn't sure how to respond without sounding slightly embarrassed so she just shook her head. "I'm fine, I must just be having an off day or something."

Bo looked skeptical. "Are you sure? I mean if you want to talk about it I'm here."

Lauren gave her a small smile for her effort. She knew it was unfair to Bo to act so erratically but she was having trouble dealing with the new emotions she was feeling and she needed to get a handle on them before she explored them further. "It's fine Bo. Honestly."

Bo looked at her skeptically and nodded slowly as she sighed. "Okay well like I said if you want to talk about it just let me know okay Baby Lewis?"

Lauren was about to nod and walk away but something about the way Bo had addressed her just then got to her. She rolled her eyes and nodded as she turned to leave in frustration but Bo's hand on her shoulder stopped her. "See, that's exactly what I'm talking about. What's with the mood swings?"

Despite her annoyance and frustration with the situation the only thing Lauren could feel at that moment was Bo's hand on her shoulder. There was a warmth radiating from it that she'd never felt before and it both shocked and confused her as she couldn't figure out why she was reacting so strongly to a simple touch.

Lauren turned around with a snarl on her face. "Maybe I'm just tired of being treated like a kid. Maybe I'm tired of being known as Tamsin's little sister or freshman or more importantly 'Baby Lewis!'"

Bo's eyes grew wide as she listened to Lauren rant and she really wasn't sure what to say in this situation as she still didn't really understand why it bothered the younger girl so much. Bo had felt Lauren tense slightly when she touched her and she didn't know if it meant she was scared or annoyed but she couldn't deny that one simple touch made her crave more. She put her hands up in mock surrender as she tried to get a handle on the situation. "Woah, okay easy fre-Lauren. Calm down."

The blonde was on the verge of tears and she knew they were out of frustration and annoyance more than anything else. It never really bothered her before to be known as the younger of the Lewis sisters but standing here, in front of Bo Dennis – someone who she may or may not have feelings for she realized it was the last thing she wanted to be known as. She wanted Bo to see her as an equal, a teammate, just another college student that found herself unnervingly attracted to the Junior pitcher.

"I am calm. I'm just…tired Bo."

Lauren's face betrayed the intent of the words coming out of her mouth and she knew she had to get out of there. No good was to come of her being there pouring her heart out to the older girl so Lauren turned and walked away leaving Bo staring at her retreating form. The older girl had the immediate urge to run after her and console her but she had no clue why she felt that way. It wasn't her thing, her style to be the comforting affectionate one and it left Bo even further confused than she already was.

Unfortunately for her also was the fact that the older Lewis sister had returned to the field looking for them and the only thing she saw was her sister walking away trying to discretely wipe tears away while making a bee line for the locker room. Lauren was so lost in her own head that she didn't even see Tamsin standing there looking at her with concern. Lauren walked right past her and into the locker room despite Tamsin's attempt to call out to her so without further thought Tamsin rushed back on the field ending up right in front of Bo who was still staring at Lauren's retreating figure in confusion.

"What the hell Dennis?"

Tamsin shoved her lightly mostly to get her attention and when Bo turned to look at her the fire in her eyes was unmistakable. "What do you want Tamsin?"

The taller blonde gave her a knowing look as she motioned in the general direction of the locker rooms indicating she was referring to her sister. "What did you do to her?"

Bo looked up at her with anger on her face as she brushed past the younger pitcher bumping her shoulder in a not-so-subtle display of annoyance. "I didn't do anything. Your sister is fucking crazy."

Tamsin grabbed Bo's arm to stop her and stared down at her with as much intimidation as she could muster. "What did you just say?"

Bo threw her hands up in frustration. "I said she's crazy. Yesterday she was fine, we went to dinner and everything was great. And today she's acting like she hates me. I know girls are weird but this kind of takes the cake."

As Tamsin was listening to Bo it suddenly clicked and she shook her head as she stared back at Bo. "Well maybe it's not her."

Bo looked confused. "What the hell are you talking about? Is this some kind of family trait thing that I don't know about? Is this a Canadian thing to talk in riddles?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes as she sighed. "No, but maybe you should be more careful when dealing with people and their feelings."

She stormed off after her sister and once again Bo was left watching the retreating form of a Lewis and she shook her head again. She had no idea what just happened in the past ten minutes but she did not have the energy to try and figure it out. She scowled as she followed the path Tamsin had taken to head back to the locker room and when she walked in she was happy it was empty. She wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone and it appeared neither was Lauren as her locker was clear meaning she'd left probably without showering. Bo sat down on the bench in front of her locker and stared into the space where her normal clothes were hanging as if the answer to her questions was somehow hidden in there.

"I haven't seen you think that hard since Florida lit you up in last year's Series."

Bo's head swiveled around and she smiled at the owner of the voice. She was extremely happy that Ciara was doing her graduate schooling at UCLA and the fact that she was getting her Master's degree in Sports Medicine was a bonus as it meant she got to spend time with the team. The blonde walked in and sat down on the bench across from Bo with a smile on her face.

"Good game today."

Bo nodded. "Thanks. Could have been better but not bad for the opener."

Ciara nodded. "Seems you have a few kinks to work out though."

She looked at Lauren's locker and back at Bo with a raised eyebrow and the brunette just nodded as she sighed softly. "You could say that."

Ciara peered at her curiously. "The Bo I remember would have laid down the rules with her and not given it a second thought. What's the problem?"

Bo shrugged. "I don't know. She's different I guess."

Ciara gave her a knowing smile. "Different how?"

Bo looked up at her with curiosity. "I don't know…different. She's smart and she really knows the game C."

The older girl laughed and nodded. "As did Nadia but I recall a few conversations where you put her in her place a time or two. So that's not all that's going on is it? What's wrong Bo."

The brunette shrugged as she started changing not even bothering to shower. "She's annoying. And she's crazy C. Seriously. Like bi-polar mental."

Ciara watched Bo brush off the situation and try to resort to her normal banter as she changed. She shook her head and laughed slightly as she looked up at Bo with a toothy smile. "Or, perhaps there's something you're not seeing."

Bo had her jersey halfway off and stopped to look at Ciara with questions in her eyes. "Like what?"

Ciara laughed. "Like have you ever considered this girl is smitten with you?"

Bo scoffed and threw her jersey into the bin to have them washed. "Please, she's all school and softball. So much so that she had to give me a speech on how those things are her priority and she just wants to be friends."

Ciara nodded patiently as she stared at Bo with pity in her eyes. "You really can be dense you know that? And as I recall you and I had this discussion your first year."

Bo smirked. "Yeah but I was just saying that so you wouldn't find me weird."

Ciara smirked. "And what was your true intention?"

Bo shrugged. "It doesn't matter, it isn't the same thing."

Ciara smiled at her knowingly. "Isn't it?"

Bo sat down on the bench in her sports bra and softball pants. "Hold on. You think she likes me?"

Ciara shook her head. "I'm saying you are charismatic and charming and cute when you want to be. And people are attracted to you. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that an impressionable young woman like her would be attracted to you so you need to be careful with her. She's tough yes, sure, but she's also young and figuring a lot of things out. Think back to your freshman year Bo, it's hard and there are a lot of things that you have to deal with at once. You can't expect her to have all the answers and perhaps this is part of that process. I don't know how she feels but if she is struggling with emotions that she doesn't understand of course she's going to be irrational and bi-polar as you put it."

Bo sat there with a dumfounded look on her face. She never really thought the younger Lewis would be attracted to her, like actually attracted to her and now she was thinking about their conversations trying to figure out why Lauren flipped out on her. What Ciara said would make sense if Lauren was a normal girl but the way she'd handled herself both on and off the field was so mature that Bo never really considered her like most of the freshman girls that she met.

"So what should I do?"

Ciara shrugged. "That's for you to figure out. But Bo, if this girl does have feelings for you, do be careful."

Bo looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not going to hurt her on purpose Ciara."

The older girl nodded. "I know you aren't Bo. But it's the accidental stuff that hurts most."

Ciara stood and gave Bo a hug before exiting the locker room leaving the brunette to think about what her former teammate told her. She didn't understand why she was the one getting the lecture on being careful. If Lauren had something to work out that was on her and Bo didn't see how it would make a difference one way or the other what she did or didn't do.

ooOOoo

"You want to grab food?"

Tamsin glanced at her sister out of the corner of her eye and waited for a response from the girl currently staring out the window silently. Lauren just shrugged and mumbled 'whatever' and Tamsin sighed as she decided ordering in was probably the way to go tonight. As she navigated her truck on the short drive from the field to their apartment she let Lauren sulk in silence knowing whatever was going to be said was probably better said in private. She parked and followed her sister through the front door of their apartment kicking the door closed behind her.

"Okay Laur cut the crap. I know what's bugging you."

Lauren threw her bag down in next to the couch and flopped down staring straight ahead. "Do you?"

Tamsin nodded even though Lauren wasn't looking at her and she joined her sister on the couch sitting on the other end tucking her legs up underneath her. "I do. And I think you need to let it go. Don't get involved in something that's ultimately going to end in pain."

Lauren glanced over at her sister briefly before turning and looking straight ahead again. "That all?"

Tamsin raised her eyebrow at Lauren's tone of voice and she stared at her with frustration. "Look Lauren, I know things are shit okay? I know you're overwhelmed with school and softball and with Nadia out you gotta step up but what I'm telling you is don't get involved with Bo. It's not going to end well."

Lauren laughed sarcastically. "I don't think you need to worry about that."

Tamsin looked confused. "Why not?"

Lauren turned to her and Tamsin could see tears of frustration quickly forming in her sisters big brown eyes. "Because everyone, including Bo Dennis, only sees me as a kid. As YOUR kid sister. And apparently that means I get treated with kid gloves. Bo doesn't have any interest in me because to her I am and probably always will be Baby Lewis."

Tamsin gave her an annoyed look. "Okay can we cut the dramatics for five minutes here please? Look Laur, it's okay if you like her, and I'm not advocating you do anything but I am telling you that if you can help it…be careful. She doesn't have the best track record and isn't the most notorious for being monogamous."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Did you even hear what I said T? She isn't interested so don't worry okay? I'll be fine, this will pass."

Tamsin sighed as she scooted closer and awkwardly put an arm around her sister. "You know…last year I had the biggest crush on one of the senior girls."

Lauren snorted. "Yes I recall, the same on I found you on top of the other week?"

Tamsin laughed. "No, not her. I mean yeah I had a crush on Ciara but that's not who I'm talking about. There was this girl…Evony, she was incredible. Beautiful, smart and one hell of a ballplayer. And unfortunately she also had a reputation for sleeping around. Something no one told me until after I'd been with her and fell hard for her. It was quite the lesson to learn and all I'm trying to do is spare you the same stress okay?"

Lauren looked up at her with confusion. "Why didn't you tell me about her?"

Tamsin shrugged. "She got injured two games into the season and had to sit out all year. I was embarrassed and angry that I'd fallen for her shit and the one person who helped me through it was Ciara."

Lauren sniffed a bit as she listened to her sister's story. "That why you are so into her now?"

Tamsin laughed. "Actually for the longest time I thought she and Bo were a couple. Turns out they're just friends and Ciara had a thing for me all season. She just never told me. Until now that is."

Lauren smiled at the look on Tamsin's face as she thought about the older blonde. Lauren had seen Ciara around the apartment once or twice since the day she'd walked in on them and she was pretty certain there was something more serious going on between them. Tamsin didn't normally talk to her about that kind of stuff though and Lauren just assumed this was going to be like all those other times when she didn't say anything so she just nodded.

"Well I'm happy for you sis."

Tamsin shook her head. "Hold on, I think you have the wrong idea. Me and Ciara aren't a couple."

Lauren looked confused. "What? I mean you two…"

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "We have needs that we help each other satisfy on occasion but we're just friends Laur."

The shorter blonde looked shocked. "But…I mean I've seen her around."

Tamsin nodded. "Yeah I'm helping her with her graduate assignment. My recovery process is what she's doing her graduate thesis on."

Lauren looked confused. "Who were you with the other night then?"

A few days ago Lauren had come home and Tamsin's door had been shut and locked much to her surprise. When she'd knocked to let Tamsin know she was home the older Lewis was obviously entertaining an overnight guest and she had been pretty clear that she didn't want to be bothered for the rest of the night. Lauren had assumed it was Ciara and just nodded as she went to her room to retire for the evening. When she'd gotten up in the morning both Tamsin and her guest were already gone so Lauren never had a chance to confirm who it was.

Tamsin laughed as she shook her head. "Well we're not talking about me are we nerd?"

Lauren joined in the laugher as she shook her head. Typical Tamsin. "No we are not. Thanks T."

Tamsin squeezed her shoulder and stood up to go take a shower. A knock on the door stopped her though and when she answered her body tensed as she took in the person standing in front of her. "What do you want?"

Bo sighed. "Is Lauren home?"

Tamsin looked back at Lauren who heard Bo's voice and just nodded knowing she probably owed the older girl some explanation as to why she was acting spastic. Tamsin barely opened the door enough for Bo to walk past and she shut the door loudly turning to them and giving Bo a hard glare. "I'm gonna shower, be back in a few."

The statement was obviously made to let Bo know she would be back to check on them and the brunette just nodded at Tamsin who glanced at Lauren before turning down the hall to go shower. Bo cleared her throat a little as she stood there awkwardly before Lauren took pity on her and motioned for her to sit on the couch. Bo sat down on the far end like Tamisn had done earlier and Lauren looked at her with tired eyes.

"What are you doing here Bo?"

Bo played with a string on her shorts. "I wanted to finish our talk from earlier."

Lauren nodded. "Look I'm sorry for snapping at you. But I'm fine honestly, and there's no problem here okay?"

She motioned between them and Bo nodded slowly all the while never taking her eyes off the blonde. "Lauren, what was that? I mean, why is this such an issue for you?"

Lauren took a deep breath. "I don't know. Honestly Bo. I really don't. But it's not a big deal okay?"

Bo could tell she was trying to brush it off but for some reason the older girl didn't want to let it go. "Well for what it's worth I don't see you as a kid Lauren. Really."

The blonde gave her a shy smile and Bo felt a warm feeling pass over her as she watched Lauren respond to that statement. "You don't? But you're always calling me freshman or Baby Lewis."

Bo laughed. "I call all the freshman...er freshman and well, Baby Lewis kind of became your nickname."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "I hate that nickname."

Bo chuckled. "Well sorry to say but I think it's gonna stick. Coach pretty much assigns them randomly and yours seemed to be obvious."

Lauren laughed and looked at Bo with a small smile. "Well it sucks but if that's how it works then I guess I'm stuck with it."

Bo nodded and smiled. "So…we okay?"

Lauren nodded. "We're okay."

Bo gave her a genuine smile and continued to futz with the string. "So, if we're okay how about joining me for dinner again?"

Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me out?"

Bo looked up at her with a slightly shocked expression that made Lauren laugh. Even the blonde had been surprised by the bold sentiment that came out of her mouth but nonetheless it served its purpose. Bo stumbled a bit as she shrugged. "Doesn't need to be defined as anything more than dinner. And your rules are no dates right?"

Lauren rolled her eyes a bit. "Right. Okay well in that case, sure. I'd love to."

Bo smiled and nodded. "Okay. Well how about I go home and shower and we'll go get something later tonight?"

Lauren gave her a brilliant smile. "I'd like that."

Bo nodded and stood up. "Alright, well I'll see you later then."

Lauren nodded and waived as Bo walked out just as Tamsin had finished her shower. The older Lewis looked at her sister who now had a goofy smile on her face and shook her head. "What did Dennis want?"

Lauren shrugged. "Nothing. And we're going out for dinner tonight."

Tamsin frowned. "Laur, I told you not to get involved."

Lauren looked at her sister with a patient smile. "We're just going as friends Tamsin relax. I heard what you said earlier and I don't know what Bo's intentions are but for now I'd just like to get to know her. As friends. If something more happens we'll figure it out."

Tamsin sighed. "I don't like this. At all. But fine. And if she hurts you I'll just kick her ass."

She said the last part with a faux sweet tone and Lauren laughed as she stood up and walked over to give her sister a hug. "Thanks T."

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah. Look, whatever ends up happening you know I'm here for you right?"

Lauren nodded. "Yes, you are the best big sister ever."

Tamsin nodded. "And don't you forget it. Now go shower, you stink."

Lauren laughed and playfully shoved her sister out of the way as she went to take her shower. She was being truthful when she told Tamsin she was being cautious with Bo and that she understood what Tamsin was telling her. She had no intention to rush into anything but one thing was certain. Lauren found herself craving time with Bo in a way she'd never craved time with anyone and it was startling to her. She needed to figure out what she felt and what was going on or it was going to bother her to no end. She hoped she knew what she was doing but in true Lauren Lewis fashion she was going to take it one day a time. Just like she approached everything else she was going to be patient and figure out her next move carefully. She wouldn't make the same mistake her sister did and she was going into this with her eyes wide open. Lauren wasn't sure what would happen but for the first time since she'd arrived in Los Angeles and met Bo Dennis, Lauren felt confident that she would be okay.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Bo took a breath as she got out of her car and walked up the short path to Lauren and Tamsin's apartment. She wasn't sure why but she really felt like this was a date and suddenly she wasn't so confident in herself. She smoothed down her black fitted shirt and rubbed her hands semi nervously on her jeans as she knocked on the door. After a few seconds Lauren opened it with a smile and Bo's mind went blank.

"Hey Bo."

The brunette didn't say anything in response as she stood there with her mouth slightly open as if she was about to speak and Lauren looked down slightly concerned there was something wrong with how she looked. The dark blue jeans and faded grey button down she was wearing seemed intact so she looked back at Bo with a raised eyebrow.

"Bo?"

"Huh?"

The older girl shook her head and mentally slapped herself for spazing out slightly as she gave Lauren her trademark smile. "Sorry, what was that?"

Lauren gave her a funny look and just laughed as she motioned for her to come in. "I was just saying hello. And come in for a second I just have to find my shoes."

Bo nodded and entered the apartment and noticing that thankfully Tamsin wasn't home. She stood kind of awkwardly by the door not sure if she should sit down or not and Lauren gave her another confused look as she located and started putting on her shoes. "Are you alright? We don't have to go out if you don't want to."

Bo shook her head and gave Lauren a tight smile. "No, fine. I mean I'm fine. You look great. Let's go."

Bo mumbled the last part and sighed to herself as she led the pair to her old beat up Camaro. She had taken notice to the fact that the younger girl had on some makeup and her hair was softly falling over her shoulders, a look the brunette wasn't used to as most of the time she saw Lauren with her hair up in a ponytail or behind a catcher's mask.

"So where did you want to go?"

Bo stopped and turned to her with a small smile. "Uh there's this place over on 3rd street that's pretty good."

Lauren nodded. "Okay sounds great."

The smile she received from the blonde warmed Bo's entire body and suddenly she wasn't sure how she would make it through the evening. She'd initially thought of just taking Lauren to one of the places around Westwood but she had the sudden urge to want to really be alone with the girl and hanging around campus meant seeing someone she knew and most likely dated previously.

Lauren didn't notice, or didn't seem to care anyway, that Bo was pretty much silent on the drive out to Santa Monica. Instead she took in the view of the city as they traveled down the 405 to the 10 where Lauren noticed they were getting off at the end of the freeway. A few turns later Bo was parking in a large garage at the end of what appeared to be a shopping center and Lauren smiled as Bo finally spoke after the last twenty minutes of silence.

"Have you ever been here before?"

Lauren shook her head and Bo smiled a bit as she guided her out of the lot. "This is 3rd street, it has a bunch of eating and shopping places with a few random bars and stuff. There's street performers here too so its usually crowded on weekends."

Lauren nodded and looked around stopping as something caught her eye. "What's that?"

The lights of the pier were visible in the setting sun and Bo nodded with her head. "That's the Santa Monica pier. It's like a carnival or something with food and games and a few rides."

Lauren's face lit up and Bo laughed as she gave her a 'lool' and shook her head. "Wanna head there instead?"

The younger girl nodded eagerly and Bo laughed as she got back in her car and drove them the few blocks down to the pier. They could have walked it since the night air was cool and crisp off the ocean but Bo knew it could be a shady place later on in the evening and she didn't want to put Lauren in any danger. They parked and headed towards the pier and Bo could only smile as Lauren's entire mood and expressions lit up like a child walking into a toy store for the first time.

"They didn't have these in Canada?"

Lauren shrugged. "They had carnival's and stuff but we were always too busy with school or sports to go."

Bo nodded and nudged Lauren lightly with her elbow. "Well then, we need to make your first experience a memorable one. Come on…"

She took Lauren gently by the elbow and guided her through the rows of food and games. It seemed like every booth they passed the blonde wanted to stop and do something but Bo convinced her to keep going until she'd seen it all before deciding what she wanted to do. "Weigh all your options before you commit."

The sentiment was said with a wink and Lauren laughed as she nodded and continued following Bo around until they'd successfully done a lap around the pier. They settled on hot dogs and funnel cake as their meal of choice and Lauren didn't even care that it was possibly the most unhealthy thing they could have eaten that night.

"Oh…my…goodness…"

Lauren moaned as she took a bite of the sweet treat and Bo had to look away as she did so for fear of being caught staring at her. She chewed on her hot dog slowly and looked around at the various array of kids, families and couples scattered throughout the area. The sun had set and the air felt good on her skin that was heating up slowly from sitting so close to Lauren on the small bench. When she finally turned back to Lauren she had to laugh as the younger girl had some of the dreaded powdered sugar on her cheek.

Lauren looked confused at why Bo was laughing and looked down at her lap to see if she spilled anything. "What?"

Bo shook her head as she gently reached up and wiped the sugar away with her thumb. "You just had…there all gone."

Lauren blushed profusely at Bo's soft touch and the smirk Bo gave her didn't go unnoticed as she rolled her eyes and stood up to throw away the trash. "Come on superstar you're gonna win me a prize."

Bo rolled her eyes as she let Lauren drag her to where the game booths were and soon the pair were engaged in some weird heated competition to try and win the most prizes. They played the dart game and Bo laughed in triumph when she broke more balloons than Lauren and claimed her stuffed toy only to be dragged over to the basketball game where Lauren was victorious in making the shot while Bo failed earning Lauren a stuffed prize of her own. They headed to the milk bottle game next and Bo smirked knowing she had a better chance than the blonde at winning this game having played it dozens of times before.

"So how about a little wager."

Lauren raised an eyebrow at Bo and nodded as she paid the guy in the booth for her ball. Bo picked up her own ball and flipped the regulation size softball in her hand expertly. "If I win, you have to answer three questions. No holding back."

Lauren thought it over and nodded the affirmative as she figured what harm could come from three questions and she gave Bo a sly smile. "And when I win?"

Bo rolled her eyes at the younger girl's cockiness. "I'll take you on the death trap that you've been staring at all night."

Bo motioned to the Ferris wheel at the end of the pier with a quick prayer to the softball gods that she not lose this wager. Bo was terrified of heights and she did not want to freak out with Lauren there to witness it. Lauren glanced over at the ride and smiled as she nodded to Bo. "Deal."

They shook on it and Bo had to do her best to focus her thoughts on not lingering on the feel of Lauren's hand in hers. She couldn't believe how soft the younger girls hands were and she had images of them on her body that made her breathing hitch slightly. She played it off well though and stood next to Lauren at the edge of the booth watching the blonde study the tower of three milk bottles trying to figure out how to best knock them down.

The game was simple, one ball, three bottles and if you got all of the bottles off the pedestal you won the large stuffed bear. It's only easy in theory though as most people make the mistake of trying to hit the middle of the bottles not realizing the force of the impact actually keeps the bottles on the pedestal. The trick was to hit the bottom two and get the top one to roll off, something easier said than done.

"Let's go Lauren, haven't got all day."

The younger girl smirked at Bo and motioned for her to go first. "Want to show me how it's done?"

Bo shook her head and laughed. "Nope, age before beauty."

Lauren laughed loudly at Bo's comment and shook her head as she studied the three bottles before finally winding up to throw the ball. She threw it hard and two of the three bottles flew off the pedestal with a loud pop but the last bottle remained causing Bo to smile widely. "Nice try. Now watch and learn."

Lauren scoffed as Bo took a step forward and looked at the ball's closely. The blonde recognized Bo's look of fierce concentration and she had the urge to reach out and touch her shoulder or her hair as she found the other girl irresistible when she was like this. In a bold move, and in a slight move to cheat, Lauren leaned in and whispered in Bo's ear softly.

"I hope you have good questions because this is your one and only opportunity Captain."

Bo coughed slightly at Lauren's action and when she turned to the younger girl with a look of disbelief Lauren was simply watching the milk bottles waiting for her to throw the ball. Bo shook her head and sighed as she took her position again but all she was thinking about now was how soft Lauren's voice was and how it was noticeably lower when she whispered than when they were on the field.

POP

Bo delivered the perfect throw and the three bottles rolled off the pedestal quickly causing her to smile triumphantly. The kid in the booth rolled his eyes at her victorious look and waited for her to pick a toy. She pointed to the dog that looked like a St. Bernard and he handed it over with a bored expression causing her to laugh and nod at him as they walked away.

"That thing is ridiculous."

Bo laughed and hugged the gigantic prize in an over the top way to rub it in Lauren's face that she won. "What should we name him?"

Lauren laughed. "How about Lucky? Because that is exactly what that was."

Bo looked shocked. "Luck had nothing to do with it. Don't be upset because I have better aim than you do."

Lauren laughed as they kept walking aimlessly down the pier. "So, three questions. Let's have them."

Bo nodded. "Yeah no thanks to you trying to cheat. I never took you Lewis's for the underhanded type."

Lauren shrugged. "There's a lot you don't know."

Bo smiled. "I know, but I want to."

They found themselves at the end of the pier looking over the water and Lauren sat down on the bench at the end wrapping her arms around herself as the cool breeze flowed over her. Bo and Lucky sat down next to her and they all enjoyed the silence for a few minutes until Bo turned to Lauren and smiled.

"Okay, first question. Why don't you ever talk about your parents?"

Lauren was caught off guard and blinked a few times before narrowing her eyebrows. "Because there's not a lot to say. They're successful and very busy so it was pretty much me and Tamsin growing up."

Bo looked at her with sadness and couldn't imagine not having some sort of parental figure around. True, her own life wasn't exactly what Hallmark movies were made out of but she had her grandfather who was the world to her. She also noticed the hard tone Lauren used when she'd responded and the lightness of their conversation from earlier was suddenly gone and replaced with a serious tone.

"Lauren I'm—"

"Don't say you're sorry. That's what everyone says. It's fine. Tamsin and I turned out fine."

Bo noticed that Lauren's arms had tightened around herself a bit more and she wanted to kick herself for bringing up such a sensitive topic. She sighed as she sat back and let the mood pass slightly before looking over at Lauren with a smirk. "Tell me about the most recent person you dated."

Lauren rolled her eyes and laughed a little making Bo relax knowing she hadn't totally ruined their night. Lauren looked out onto the water and sighed as she started talking softly. "Her name was Crystal. We grew up together and she lived a few streets down from my parents' house."

Bo nodded and Lauren kept her eyes focused on the water as she spoke. "She was the free spirit type, not really having a plan or caring too much about the what if's. I think that's why I liked her so much though. She was the opposite, she didn't have a schedule to keep, a life to put in order, responsibilities to attend to."

Bo smiled. "Was she pretty?"

Lauren felt the familiar warmth spread over her that she normally did whenever she used to see Crystal or think about her. "She was amazingly beautiful. She had beautiful brown eyes and her laugh was so contagious."

Bo tried to smile but she knew it looked more like she was in pain than anything else. "She sounds great. Why did you guys break up?"

Lauren frowned. "Because she didn't want anything more, she was content there living the life her parents had set up for her. I wanted to come here and play ball and experience something bigger than our hometown."

Lauren looked over at Bo sadly as she said this and for the first time Bo noticed how vulnerable Lauren looked and felt the overwhelming need to pull her into her arms and protect her from the things that caused her pain. She felt an unnatural rage towards this Crystal girl and she had no idea where it was coming from but all she knew was that if she ever met her she'd introduce herself with a fist to the girl's face for making Lauren hurt so much. Bo nodded slowly and looked at Lauren empathetically. "Maybe it was for the better?"

Lauren sighed. "Maybe. Did you know when we first started dating she told me she would marry me some day? Imagine that, someone thinking they wanted to marry me at such a young age."

It was not lost on Bo that it was more self-deprecation than information giving and she shook her head as she smiled at Lauren sadly. "It's not that crazy of an idea."

Lauren looked at Bo with disbelief and her smile faltered for a second before it slowly crept over her face as she nodded. "You don't need to say that, but thanks."

Bo nodded. "No problem. Okay, and for the final question…"

Lauren waited patiently and Bo bit her lip a little as she smiled. "Want to ride the death trap?"

Lauren looked surprised and glanced at the Ferris wheel before turning back to Bo with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Bo nodded begrudgingly. "Can't have your first experience be incomplete now can we?"

Lauren hopped up and laughed as she dragged Bo towards the line where Bo was forced to wait for five minutes as she watched the wheel go round and round with riders who were laughing and having a good time. She started to break out in a cold sweat but did her best to hide her discomfort as she paid the attendant and followed Lauren into one of the carts.

"Holy crap."

The seat rocked slightly as they climbed in and Lauren rolled her eyes as how Bo now had a death grip on the bar that went down across their lap. She put her hand on Bo's arm and smiled patiently. "Give me Lucky before you strangle him."

Bo didn't say anything as she moved one arm slightly so Lauren could save the poor stuffed animal from its place between Bo's arms. She put it on the seat next to her and used that as an excuse to slide over a bit and sit that much closer to Bo. It was a clear night and the city lights flickering below them were quite the site to see, except for Bo who was looking straight ahead and trying not to literally freak out when they stopped near the top.

"Bo…breathe…"

The older girl just glared at Lauren as she tried to relax and Lauren found another reserve of bravery as she slid her hand down Bo's arm and took one of her hands gently between her own. "It's fine Bo, trust me."

Bo stared at her hand between Lauren's and she immediately forgot they were suspended high in the air in a rocking seat that was probably older than she was. She felt the heat from Lauren's hands run up her arm and down her whole body as she sighed happily and relaxed somewhat into the seat.

"Better?"

Lauren laughed as Bo looked more comfortable and for the first time Bo looked around and took in how beautiful the city line was below them. It was so clear she could easily see downtown Los Angeles and she smiled over at Lauren bashfully. "Much. You're good at that."

Lauren raised an eyebrow. "At what?"

Bo glanced down at their hands. "Calming me down."

Lauren rolled her eyes and nodded. "I guess that's why we work well together huh?"

Bo nodded. "I guess so."

They stared at each other both wanting to make the first move but neither being brave enough to do so resulting in them having to indulge in the hand holding as their only form of contact for the remainder of the ride. It was over before she knew it and Bo almost found herself asking Lauren if she wanted to ride again so she could snuggle up next to her like they had been for the past few minutes. After they exited the ride they played a few more games and Bo laughed when Lauren said she wanted to play the ring toss game not realizing that the prize was a 2 liter bottle of soda. They made their way back to the car after getting ice cream which Bo told Lauren was mandatory on the pier and soon enough they were driving back towards the school and Lauren's apartment.

Bo took a chance on this drive though and slowly reached for Lauren's hand who smiled and let their fingers tangle together loosely as she looked over at Bo with a sheepish smile. Bo's bright grin was unmistakable though and Lauren had to laugh at how childlike and happy she looked at that moment. When they pulled up to the apartment Bo followed Lauren up to the door helping her carry the prizes they'd won including Lucky which she handed over to Lauren with a smile.

"But he was your prize remember Bo?"

The brunette smiled as she played with the fake collar around his neck. "I'm trading him in for a better one."

Lauren bit her lip and nodded as she accepted the large stuffed toy and opened the door to awkwardly throw the stuffed animals inside. She turned back to Bo and gave her an uncertain look. Bo rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet not knowing what to do and she finally grew impatient and reached out to put her hands on Lauren's face gently pulling her in for a kiss.

It wasn't one of those magical moments that stops time and is worthy of the slow movie montage but it was the most perfect kiss Bo had ever had and for the first time in a long time she didn't want it to end. Like all good things it did though and when she pulled back she smiled at the fact that Lauren hadn't opened her eyes yet.

"Wow."

Bo laughed nervously. "Yeah."

Lauren opened her eyes and gave Bo a big smile as she leaned against the door frame. "So…"

Bo smiled apprehensively. "So…"

Lauren cleared her throat. "Um…do you want to come in?"

Bo shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. But I will see you tomorrow?"

Lauren smiled happily making Bo laugh. "Okay."

Bo waited until she went inside before breaking out into a huge grin and she practically floated down the walkway to her car. She didn't realize just how much she liked the younger girl but after tonight she was no longer afraid to admit that she was totally smitten with her. As she reached in her pocket to get her keys a voice interrupted her happy thoughts.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you could help me?"

Bo looked up and saw a young blonde standing a few feet away holding a duffel bag and looking completely lost. Bo looked around and noticed they were the only ones out there as she shrugged. "Sure what do you need?"

The girl gave her a warm smile. "Can you tell me which building apartment 109 is in?"

Bo tensed as the girl asked about the apartment she'd just come from and she folded her arms over her chest. "Why do you want to go there?"

The girl looked confused for a second before answering. "I'm looking for a friend, Lauren Lewis."

Bo raised an eyebrow. "And who the hell are you?"

The girl raised an eyebrow in return and gave Bo a cautious look. "I'm Crystal, who the hell are you?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Lauren sighed as she tiredly sat down on the bench in the locker room. Between her night with Bo and Crystal showing up unexpectedly her mind was spinning so much she was surprised she was able to function normally. When she'd answered the door and Crystal was standing on the other side Lauren felt a myriad of emotions that she didn't know existed and the weight of it all hit her like a ton of bricks. True, she'd had the best night of her life with Bo just moments before, but seeing her ex standing there, well it drummed up all of the pain and heartache she'd felt when they'd ended.

To say their story was unresolved was an understatement and even when Lauren left Canada she wasn't totally sure where things stood as far as the other blonde was concerned. Their relationship had been emotional and intense and surreal to the her and even when they had broken up Lauren often found herself hanging out with Crystal or talking to her late into the night. She never told Tamsin but Lauren had considered breaking up with her ex the hardest thing she'd ever had to get over in her life. To Lauren, her time with the other girl may have ended but she knew deep down that Crystal was her first love and it was by her own fears and doubts that she'd managed to push the girl away and them into the turbulent connection they had today. They were one of those couples that never really seemed to "break up" even when they were broken up because they could fight like a couple and laugh like a couple and most of the time Lauren's head and heart weren't quite sure if she loved or hated the girl from day to day.

Lauren didn't quite know what to do in that moment so she ushered Crystal in trying to figure out why the other girl was here and was happily surprised it had nothing to do with 'them.' Lauren felt slightly guilty that even as she sat on her couch listening to Crystal talk about some culinary school that she was looking into and how excited she was to try out a new path in life that all Lauren could think about was the softness of Bo's lips on hers. It was a scary feeling to know the one who used to make her feel the spectrum of emotions was an afterthought now that she'd spent time with and gotten to know the woman who had invaded her mind and heart unknowingly.

Wait…Bo. Who had left moments before Crystal arrived…which meant….

Confirming her fears, the other blonde confirmed she'd run into Bo just outside. Lauren had started to internally panic as she tried to formulate an explanation to the older girl as to why her ex-girlfriend was visiting but really she couldn't think of a single thing. Lauren ran a million scenarios through her head of how the Bo/Crystal interaction went down but they all ended not so well and Lauren threw up a silent prayer that the confrontation had been civil. Her fears weren't reduced though as Crystal made some comment about how scary Bo seemed and Lauren harshly told her to stay out of it and mind her own business…which lead to a fight between them about Lauren always holding things in and Crystal being too flippant about things.

Luckily for both of them Tamsin had returned home at that moment and she'd managed to separate them before any blood was drawn or comments made that wouldn't be salvageable. For what it was worth Tamsin always liked Crystal and thought it was cute how smitten she'd been with her sister at one point. She was mature enough though to see that Lauren always held her at arm's length and her fear of total commitment always troubled the older Lewis.

Tamsin made the decision that Crystal would stay with them while she was looking for a place of her own and Lauren just rolled her eyes as she huffed and stormed off to her room desperately wanting the night to end so she could find Bo the next day and hopefully repair any damage done by the appearance of her past. Unfortunately she hadn't seen her around campus all day so the best Lauren could hope for was stealing a few moments with her before practice began.

"Are you sick or something?"

Bo had walked into the locker room and Lauren noticed she didn't give her the same warm smile she had the night before nor did she speak to her in a tone that was anything less than neutral and guarded. Bo changed her clothes quickly and Lauren noticed how she seemed to be slamming things around and not in a talkative mood.

"No, I'm fine. Bo, listen…"

"Let's go…practice is starting."

Without even glancing over her shoulder Bo exited the locker room and Lauren sighed as she grabbed her glove and followed her out to the field. It really was the last place she wanted to be right now and that feeling was a first for the young catcher.

"Hey, Lauren!"

She froze on the spot and turned to see Tamsin and Crystal making their way towards the practice field and Tamsin pointing for the other girl to take a seat in the bleachers around the field. Lauren's eyes bugged out for a second before glaring at her sister who walked over to her and rolled her eyes at the look she was receiving.

"What?"

"Why did you bring her here?"

"Because she was bored at home and had nothing else to do. Besides I told her we'd go eat after."

Lauren shook her head and walked beside Tamsin to join the other girls who were stretching out before practice started. Unluckily for her the open space was next to Bo who glanced in her direction and rolled her eyes some. "What, your girlfriend didn't want to stay home?"

Lauren opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the coach who started barking out orders for today's practice and soon everyone was moving around to start the three hour session. Throughout practice Lauren could see Bo glare at Crystal from time to time or worse, glare at her and Lauren knew she needed to talk to Bo before this whole thing blew up in her face.

After a hard workout the girls headed back to the locker room and Lauren pulled Bo aside before they went in. "Bo…can we talk?"

Bo sighed and looked around. "What?"

Lauren gave her a sad look as she tried to figure out what to say. "I'm sorry Bo, I didn't know she was gonna be here. I swear."

Bo rolled her eyes. "It's fine."

The blonde bit her lip as she looked over at the girl who was obviously bothered by this whole situation. "I had a great time last night."

She gave her a hopeful smile and Bo stared at her for what felt like forever before she finally broke out into a small smile and nodded. "Me too."

Lauren grinned as she heard the soft tone return to Bo's raspy voice and she could see the older girl visibly relax. In a bold move Lauren reached out and linked a few fingers from her right hand with Bo's left one and she smiled as the warmth from the other girl went up her hand and immediately warmed her whole body. "So…maybe we can—"

"Yo Lauren, let's go I'm starving!"

The young blonde rolled her eyes causing Bo to laugh before she turned and looked in Tamsin's direction. "Be right there."

Bo watched Crystal walk over to where Tamisn was and she nodded in their direction. "She hanging around?"

Lauren nodded slowly. "Just til she finds a place to stay."

Bo raised an eyebrow. "So she's moving here then?"

Lauren nodded again but squeezed her fingers slightly letting Bo know it wasn't a threat. "She's going to some culinary school or something. I don't know."

Bo nodded again and glanced over to where the two blondes were waiting before looking back at Lauren with a mischievous smile. "I will say Lauren, you have good taste."

Lauren pulled her hand free and smacked Bo on the arm before groaning and going into the locker room. Luckily it was empty and Lauren turned back to Bo with a raised eyebrow. "For that little comment you get to come with us to eat."

Bo laughed. "I'm sure your sister would love that."

Lauren shrugged. "She'll have to get used to it. Right?"

Bo smiled as the true question wasn't lost on her and she nodded. "I like to think so."

Lauren blushed somewhat as she changed into her street clothes and waited for Bo to do the same. Nadia came out of the coach's office, still on crutches and Bo gave her a friendly smile. "How's it going Nadia?"

The older girl laughed. "Well, I'm out for the regular season but I might be able to come back if we make it to playoffs."

Bo nodded. "Well don't push it. We want you back at 100% when you do return."

Nadia nodded and Lauren smiled at her friend and was genuinely happy to hear she might be returning that season. "Hey Nadia, we're all gonna go grab dinner, want to come? We can talk about the paper?"

Lauren had asked Nadia to help her with a paper she was doing for one of her classes and after a brief glance at Bo who just shrugged Nadia smiled. "Sure, as long as you don't mind these."

She motioned to her crutches and Lauren just laughed. "It will be fine, come on."

The three of them exited the locker room and found Tamsin and Crystal still waiting for them at the edge of the field. Tamsin smiled at Nadia and glared slightly at Bo as Crystal looked wearily at the Junior pitcher before giving Lauren a tight smile. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Lauren rolled her eyes as she pointed to the other girls in turn. "Crystal, this is Bo and Nadia. Guys this is Crystal."

Bo kind of neutrally glared at Crystal while Nadia gave her a friendlier smile and Lauren had to do a double take as she saw her injured teammate subtly check out her ex. Lauren felt an unfamiliar heat rise over her and she had to take a breath before she did something she didn't want to do. She was about to say something when Tamsin rolled her eyes and butt in, per usual. "Okay now that everyone knows everyone can we go? I'm freaking starving."

They all kind of nodded and made their way to the parking lot where Kenzi was waiting for Bo to drive them home. Laughingly Bo told Kenzi they needed to go eat and the petite girl kind of rolled her eyes as she climbed into the Camaro with Lauren and Nadia. Since Crystal didn't know any of the others that well Tamsin drove her while the four teammates rode together.

"So Baby Lewis, who's the blonde?"

Kenzi glanced back at Lauren with a raised eyebrow and not-so-subtly glanced in Bo's direction. Lauren sighed as she knew what Kenzi was getting at and she just smiled as she looked at Bo in the rear view mirror. "A friend from back home who is moving out to LA."

Kenzi snorted. "So is she staying with you?"

Lauren nodded. "Until she finds a place of her own."

Kenzi raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's….convenient."

Lauren glared at the back of her head as she spoke in a tight voice. "Is it?"

Nadia, who was completely lost on what was going on, looked over at Lauren with a smile. "Well it's nice to have a friend from back home out here right?"

Lauren's eyebrows hit the roof as Bo coughed slightly. "Uh…I guess?"

Bo glanced at Lauren in the rear view mirror and the blonde rolled her eyes as Kenzi chuckled and Nadia looked at all of them like they were crazy. Lauren knew Bo had probably filled Kenzi in on what had happened and the attitude being thrown her way wasn't surprising coming from the older girl. Lauren just sighed and stared out the window as Bo followed Tamsin to Denny's most likely because Crystal wanted to eat her favorite meal: pancakes.

The six ladies exited the vehicles and soon found themselves seated around the table with Tamsin at one end, Crystal to her right, Nadia to her left, Kenzi next to Nadia, Lauren next to Crystal and Bo at the other end of the table. They all quietly looked over the menu for a second before Kenzi looked around and rolled her eyes.

"So, blondie, how ya liking the city life?"

Lauren groaned quietly to herself knowing this was going to be one hell of a meal and she sighed as she looked at Crystal with an apologetic expression. "That's Kenzi, Bo's roommate."

Crystal nodded and smiled. "Alright, well I've only been here for one day so it's nice so far."

Kenzi snorted. "Pretty big change from the farm eh?"

Crystal rolled her eyes. "I didn't grow up on a farm."

Kenzi shrugged. "Whatever. So are you going to be here long?"

From where Lauren was sitting she had to chuckle some watching Kenzi give Crystal the same attitude she'd been graced with when she first got there. Bo just laughed softly and let the scene play out while Tamsin rolled her eyes ready to step in if needed. She didn't have to though as seemingly out of nowhere Nadia made her presence known. "Oh relax Kenz. Another member to the group wouldn't be so bad right?"

Kenzi rolled her eyes and laughed nonchalantly. "Sure no big deal. Right Lauren?"

She looked pointedly at the blonde who shot her a death glare in return. Bo coughed lightly and stared at Kenzi as well who moved her gaze from Lauren to Tamsin and sat up a bit straighter at the daggers the older Lewis was throwing in her direction. Crystal and Nadia seemed to be oblivious to what was going on around them and Lauren couldn't help but notice the looks the two were sharing. She felt an odd sense of jealousy wash over her and she had to stop herself from drawing Crystal's attention to her instead of across the table at her teammate. Bo watched Lauren watch Crystal and she smiled sadly as she realized how unresolved the situation was between them. Although Lauren had told her it was over a while ago Bo recognized the look of uncertainty and the slightly territorial gaze that Lauren had on her face.

"You alright Bo?"

The brunette nodded at her best friend and smiled as she picked up her menu. "Fine Kenz."

The petite woman rolled her eyes and smiled as the waitress came by and took their orders. Tamsin, Crystal and Nadia ordered pancakes and bacon while Kenzi and Bo ordered French Toast and ham. Lauren nodded to the waitress that she'd have the same as them and Crystal looked at her funny.

"I didn't know you ate French Toast."

For some reason Bo couldn't stop herself and she looked over at the newcomer with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe her tastes have changed."

Crystal stared back at the obviously aggressive woman with an uncertain smile. "Uh, yeah maybe."

Lauren looked at Bo with a concerned face before turning back to Crystal with a slightly confused and slightly annoyed face. "I like French Toast."

Crystal looked confused. "Okay, I was just saying I don't recall you ever eating it before."

Lauren gave her a serious look. "There's a lot about me you don't know. Or never took the time to learn."

The table had gone silent at that point and everyone looked around uncomfortably before Tamsin shook her head. "Oookay, well thanks for making that awkward."

Crystal and Lauren held their stare for a second longer before looking away and Bo had to stop herself from reaching out and taking Lauren's hand to comfort her. She could obviously see the younger girl was in some distress but didn't want to make things worse since they were out in a very public location and she had no idea how feisty this Crystal woman was.

After dinner the group headed back to campus and the car ride was significantly more uncomfortable than it had been on the way over. Bo dropped Nadia off at her apartment since she lived the furthest before dropping Kenzi off saying she wanted to spend some time with Lauren. It was getting late and she knew she wouldn't have too much time but she wanted to make sure Lauren was okay with everything that had happened in the past 24 hours. She drove them through the streets of downtown Los Angeles not really going anywhere in particular as she glanced over at Lauren periodically.

"You okay over there?"

Lauren smiled and nodded. "Fine, just tired and I have a ton of homework."

Bo stopped at a red light and looked over at her with a smile. "That's not what I meant."

Lauren nodded and gave her a tight smile. "I know. And I'm sorry again. This is unexpected and I'm not quite sure what to do."

Bo wasn't sure if Lauren was referring to their situation or Crystal showing up and for some reason she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know the answer. Instead she just nodded and headed back towards Lauren's apartment to get her home safely. She pulled up to the parking area and smiled over at the blonde. "So…see you tomorrow? Maybe lunch? I have a break from 11 to 2."

Lauren nodded and smiled. "I'd like that. I get out of Bio at 12."

Bo nodded. "Okay call me. I'll be around."

Lauren smiled and the pair sat there quietly before Bo finally made a move and leaned in to kiss Lauren gently on the lips. The blonde smiled into the kiss and put one hand lightly on Bo's cheek. Bo finally pulled back and licked her lips as she opened her eyes slowly to a smiling

Lauren. "Goodnight."

Lauren bit her lower lip as she smiled shyly. "Goodnight Bo. And thanks."

Bo nodded as Lauren got out of the car and walked up to her door. Bo waited until she was inside the apartment before taking off and Lauren walked through the door with a smile on her face as she sighed softly.

"So that the new girlfriend?"

Lauren rolled her eyes and took a seat next to Crystal on the couch. She wasn't going to let her good mood be ruined by the woman staying with them temporarily. Lauren shrugged as she played with the blanket next to her. "Not sure."

Crystal raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because from where I was sitting she was exuding all kinds of girlfriend vibes."

Lauren laughed. "It's complicated. And new."

Crystal smiled and nudged Lauren. "And exciting? I'm happy for you Lauren."

The young catcher looked over at her ex with a doubtful look. "Really?"

Crystal laughed loudly. "Well, actually I kind of want to smack her, but yes, really."

Lauren laughed and pushed her lightly. "You really are a pain you know that?"

Crystal nodded with a smile. "It's part of my charm."

Lauren chuckled. "It really is."

The pair sat there in silence for a few seconds before Lauren sighed. "Okay, well I need to get some studying done and get to bed."

Crystal made a face. "And shower, you stink."

Lauren laughed and scoffed. "There is nothing wrong with the way I smell."

Crystal laughed. "Goodnight Lauren."

Lauren smiled and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. "Goodnight Crys."

She stood up and walked out of the living room stopping at the entrance of the hallway to look back at her ex-girlfriend sitting on the couch reading a book. "Hey Crys?"

The other blonde looked over at her with a small smile. "Yeah?"

Lauren gave her a cheeky smile. "I'm glad you're here."

Crystal rolled her eyes and laughed. "Me too. Now go shower, I can smell you from here!"

Lauren laughed as she nodded and walked down the hallway towards the bathroom. She had no idea what turn of events just took place over the past day but she felt a calm wash over her that everything would be okay. She wasn't sure if it was being naïve or not but she was hopeful that everything could work out. Unfortunately for her, you know what they say about best laid plans. Lauren should be more skeptical about everything but for tonight, she was going to bed with dreams of brown eyes dancing in her head.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Come on ladies get it together!"

Coach glared at the team on the field as the batter trotted to first base giving Bo a smirk as she did so. The brunette pitcher gritted her teeth at the action and slammed her fist into her glove slightly in frustration.

"Time!"

Bo huffed as the coach came out to the mound joining Lauren on the pitcher's mound and gave her an annoyed smile. "Having fun are we?"

The Junior pitcher gave the shorter woman a hard stare and nodded. "I'm fine, just working through it."

Coach nodded. "Well work faster. I know it's early in the season Bo but don't let this become a habit." She turned and walked back to the dugout leaving Bo and Lauren looking at each other in frustration. On paper they should be wiping the dirt with this team from Oregon State but apparently they just weren't in sync today. Bo licked her lips and took a deep breath holding Lauren's gaze as she did so. The younger girl just raised her eyebrows in question before nodding and going back behind the plate. Kenzi watched the interaction with some interest as normally Bo would be blowing a gasket by now but apparently having her new love interest on the would-be receiving end of her foul mood changed that.

"Let's go Bo you got this…"

The pitcher turned to her best friend and smiled before nodding slightly and turning back towards home plate. Behind the dugout a slight motion caught her eye and she rolled her eyes a little as she watched Crystal find her way back to her seat. Apparently the girl was hanging around after all and in the past week had been sort of the bane of her existence. Bo could tell she was finally making progress with the freshman who held her undivided attention but the blonde sitting in a few rows up in the stands was somewhat of a draw back. Not that Lauren was stringing her along, in fact Bo found out from Lauren that Nadia had come around the other day to hang out which meant new girl was interested in someone aside from the ex-girlfriend she was sharing living accommodations with.

Shaking her head Bo focused on the next batter and the sign that Lauren was giving her. She shook off the initial call of an inside curve and the second of a high fastball. Instinctively she knew she should trust Lauren's analysis of the batter but she'd faced this particular girl all her life as they grew up together and she knew the girl couldn't hit a changeup to save her life. Frustrated Lauren wiped her free hand on her opposite shoulder, a sign that she'd worked out with Bo to throw whatever the hell she wanted and she'd catch it. The brunette knew Lauren wouldn't be happy after this inning was over but she needed to learn that trust was a two way street.

STRIKE

Bo's pitch was low and away and as expected the girl swung and missed way out in front of the ball. Lauren grunted as she threw it back to Bo not even bothering to really look at her as she did so. The younger catcher just assumed her position behind the plate and swiped her shoulder again with a pointed look at Bo. She had a feeling no matter what she called Bo would shake off so in effort to save time and frustration she was letting the older girl have free reign.

STRIKE

This time the ball came way inside but hung a bit longer than necessary and Bo breathed a sigh of relief when the batter whiffed and missed it. As a rule of thumb you don't want the ball to hang waist high for too long because usually those get hit a mile out of the field. Lauren smirked a bit behind her mask knowing Bo got a bit worried about that pitch and she sighed as she crouched down not even bothering to give Bo the go ahead sign this time.

Coach Inouye watched from the sideline and she knew something was off. She had been enormously impressed with Lauren's grasp of the mental side of the game so no way would the girl have called for two off speed pitches back to back. She looked over at Tamsin who just shrugged and went back to watching the action. Inside though, Tamsin was furious because she knew what Lauren was doing. The girl was annoyed and to prove her point she was letting Bo hang herself and possibly lose the game due to bad pitch choices. The swipe of the shoulder was something she and Lauren had done their entire career together mostly as a way for one to flip the other off when they were mad. She knew it wasn't a good sign if her sister was giving Bo free reign to do as she pleased.

Lauren pounded her fist into her catcher's mitt angrily and stared at Bo waiting for her to deliver the next pitch. Bo stared back at her under the guise that she was reading the call but in actuality the pair were engaged in a silent argument ending with Bo huffing and getting into her wind up position. Lauren crouched into a more stable position as she wasn't sure where Bo was going to put the ball. The brunette took a slow breath before starting her windup keeping her gaze trained on the freshman behind the plate.

BALL

Just before Bo started her wind up Lauren brushed the top of her glove with her free hand, another sign they had worked out which told Bo the runner at first was stealing. As practiced she ditched her intended pitch and threw a hard fastball outside letting Lauren get into position to deliver a bullet to second base for the tag.

"Runner's OUT."

The Bruin dugout cheered and Coach nodded her approval knowing the pair seemed to be able to work through whatever their issue was. It was the third out of the inning and when they jogged in to take their turn at the plate Tamsin pulled Lauren aside. "What the hell are you doing?"

Lauren glared at her as she wiped her face with a towel. "What do you think I'm doing?"

Tamsin huffed slightly. "Not your best I know that. Cut the shit Laur, work it out and get the job done."

She shoulder checked her sister slightly as she walked back to the rail to cheer on her teammates. Lauren glared at the back of her head feeling the anger rising up within her. All week Tamsin had been a bitch to her for no good reason but she suspected it had something to do with her growing relationship with Bo. Although the taller blonde was okay with Bo on the field, and for the most part off the field as well, but all that went out the window when she became her baby sister's official suitor.

Last night Bo had been over at the apartment studying for the upcoming midterms when Lauren and Crystal returned from picking up food. Apparently the taller blonde hadn't expected to find her sister and teammate curled up on the couch together with only a few textbooks separating them and she reacted a bit stronger than expected to the scene until finally Crystal dragged her into her room leaving the pair on the couch to resume their night.

ooOOoo

 _"Well, that was unexpected…."_

 _Lauren gave Bo a small smile as she sat there trying to figure out what Tamsin's deal was. It wasn't unusual for her sister to be so opinionated about who she was spending time with but Lauren was surprised she took such a dislike to their teammate. She nodded and cleared her throat. "Sorry Bo, she normally—"_

 _The brunette smiled and waved her off. "It's fine, she's doing the protective sister thing. I get it."_

 _Lauren smiled sheepishly and joined Bo in gathering up their books and notes. Mid-terms were next week and the freshman was stressing a bit over doing well on them so Bo had come over to keep her company. The older girl wasn't as stressed about the tests as she'd figured out how to navigate the educational warpath at the school. She'd been wanting to hang out with Lauren but aside from softball and the occasional few minutes on campus the blonde had spent her time studying so Bo just decided to join her instead._

 _Lauren walked Bo to the door and smiled as the brunette took her hand gently and kissed her palm lightly as she smiled at her. "You'll be fine Lauren, thanks for letting me study with you."_

 _The younger girl gave her a genuine smile and nodded. "Maybe you can come over again tomorrow and we can order pizza and study again?"_

 _Movement behind Lauren caught her eye and Bo gave Tamsin a neutral look before turning back to Lauren. "How about Friday instead? I need to get some actual studying done and I didn't crack the books so well here." She wasn't lying as the pair had spent the majority of the night pretending to study as they stole glances and touches and a few chaste kisses, not that Bo was complaining or anything._

 _Lauren turned to look at what had Bo's attention and she rolled her eyes as she looked at her sister. She turned back to Bo with a fake but happy looking smile. "Okay, Friday sounds good. See you tomorrow at practice."_

 _Bo left after that and Lauren turned around with an annoyed look on her face after locking the door behind Bo. "What do you want Tamsin?"_

 _The older Lewis shrugged as she walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water. "Nothing. Have fun studying?"_

 _Lauren huffed a bit. "Actually yes. Problem?"_

 _Tamsin snorted behind her glass as she took a drink. "Did you actually get any studying done?"_

 _The younger blonde walked back to the couch and sat down with a thud. "Yes actually. Why is this such a problem Tamsin?"_

 _She sighed as she walked over to where Lauren was sitting. "It's not a problem Laur. Just want you to be careful."_

 _Lauren crossed her arms and pouted slightly as she looked up at Tamsin. "What is your problem with Bo?"_

 _Tamsin shrugged as she sat on the arm of the chair next to her. "Nothing specifically. I like her well enough but something about her makes me nervous."_

 _Lauren sighed and have her a small smile. "I know you're doing the big sister routine here but I know what I'm doing."_

 _Tamsin raised an eyebrow. "And what is that exactly? What do you think is gonna happen with Bo? Because I don't exactly know her that well but from what I've seen she's no Crystal…"_

 _With that Tamsin got up and walked out of the room leaving Lauren to mull over that thought. She was tired of her sister trying to dictate who she could or couldn't hang out with and she didn't know why Tamsin didn't trust her. She yawned as she laid down on the couch and tried to unwind after a long day of classes, practice and hanging out with Bo. She just wanted to have a few moments of peace and quiet but she had a feeling that would not be happening any time soon._

ooOOoo

"Alright ladies, let's put this away…"

The team cheered before jogging back out on the field for the top of the 7th inning. Bo and Lauren trotted out to the pitcher's mound and Lauren sighed as she looked at Bo. "So you have a plan here or are we just gonna wing it?"

Bo looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, the plan is to get out of the inning. Three up, three down."

Lauren frowned as she nodded and put on her mask before jogging back behind the plate. Since that night when she'd had that talk with Tamsin she noticed Bo was a bit more standoffish with her. Not mean, or unwelcoming by any means, but just…distant. Bo had come over on Friday as she said she would but Lauren could sense things weren't quite the same as they had been earlier that week and she didn't know why. She tried to wrack her brain to figure out what happened or if she did anything to upset the brunette but she was coming up short.

"Batter up!"

The girl walked to the plate and Lauren sighed as she sized her up. She signaled in a pitch and Bo didn't even flinch as she took her stance to be in the wind up position. She waited for Lauren to get set before she delivered the fastball inside which the batter made slight contact with sending the ball right to the third baseman who threw her out easily. Bo glared at Lauren before turning to receive the ball from the first baseman who was looking at her funny. Apparently Bo would be pitching for contact this inning, something she was okay with when she knew it was the game plan.

Bo motioned for Lauren to come to the plate and the freshman sighed as she stood up to call time and trotted out to the mound, taking off her mask as she did so. "What?"

Bo looked at her carefully. "You wanna fill me in on what that was exactly?"

Lauren sighed. "Three up, three down right? Just helping that along."

Bo scoffed. "Next time you want me to pitch to contact you tell me first."

Lauren raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd have figured it out."

She turned and put on her mask before jogging back to the plate and resuming her position. She rolled her eyes at the pissed look Bo was giving her but she didn't care. She didn't know whatever mind game Bo was playing with her and she was tired of it. Maybe Tamsin was right, maybe Bo isn't girlfriend material and just wanted to have some fun with her while she could. She could hear the crowd cheering and specifically picked up Crystal's voice among the jumble of noise that she heard.

If nothing else, Lauren had to admit that after everything that happened between them Crystal had always been part of her world and she knew the girl would be for a long, long time. They only dated for two years but they grew up together and Lauren knew Crystal was someone she would be able to count on, even when things between them were rocky. It didn't hurt that Crystal had always been a supporter of the Lewis sister's athletic achievements and Lauren knew Tamsin was rooting for them to be together in the end. It was a far cry from when they first got together as Tamsin had all but read the poor girl the riot act but she knew deep down Tamsin trusted Crystal to take care of her.

'That must be why she doesn't trust Bo…' Lauren frowned as she thought about this. So far she didn't really have any reason to not trust Bo of what she did or said but then again she didn't really have and reason to explicitly trust her either. Their relationship had been slow growing and the more it grew the more complicated it became.

STRIKE THREE

Lauren looked up not even realizing the inning had ended as she'd been so lost in her own head. One advantage at being so good at what she did was that every once in a while she could zone out and get away with it. She jumped up and joined Bo and the rest of the team in a cheer before lining up and shaking hands with the other team. They then gathered in center field for an after-game meeting where the coaches went over things they did well and things that need improvement. After the short meeting the team headed to the locker rooms to shower and change except for Bo and Tamsin who were held back by the pitching coaches. They had a big road trip coming up and they wanted to discuss the pitching strategies ahead of time.

About twenty minutes later most of the locker room had emptied out as most of the girls just opted to go home and shower except for Lauren and Kenzi who were waiting for Bo and Tamsin. The pair emerged soon enough and were apparently arguing over something.

"Yeah well like I said I didn't do anything so calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down. You need to leave her alone."

"HEY"

Lauren stood up when she heard them coming through the doors and she glared at them in turn, obviously not pleased with the topic of their discussion. Bo looked apologetic while Tamsin looked pissed and the taller Lewis forged ahead as per usual. "Stay out of this Laur it doesn't concern you."

The shorter blonde raised an eyebrow. "Actually it seems like it does. What is going on here?"

Bo scoffed as she opened her locker. "Big sister over there doesn't like me hanging around."

Kenzi raised an eyebrow at Tamisn but didn't say anything as she wanted to see where this was headed. Tamsin snorted and opened her own locker which was only a few feet away from Bo's. "I don't mind her hanging around, I just mind her getting involved with my baby sister."

"I'm standing right here you know. And I told you to stay out of it Tam." Lauren folded her arms over her chest and glared at the taller Lewis who didn't even turn around.

"You don't even know the half of it Lauren."  
The shorter blonde sighed. "Then tell me. What is the big deal you have with Bo?"

The brunette pitcher stood up and glared at Tamsin. "Yeah, what is your problem Lewis?"

Kenzi looked back and forth between the sisters and smirked slightly. She knew whatever the problem was had to be interesting and she was glad she got to hang around for this argument. Bo may be her best friend but sometimes getting that woman to open up about her feelings and such was like trying to pry apart a piece of welded metal.

Tamsin sneered and towered over Bo. "My problem is that you live your life out of convenience. Whatever suits you is what you go with at the time instead of being honest with everyone about everything."

Bo's eyebrows went up in surprise. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes as she stripped off her jersey and put on her sweatshirt. "I'm talking about a lot of things. Ciara…Nadia…New Year's Eve…" She looked pointedly at Bo at her last statement and the brunette looked confused for a second before glaring back at the taller woman.

"That is—"

"What happened on New Year's Eve?" Lauren looked at Bo and then Tamsin for an answer and Kenzi had to laugh slightly as she realized Lauren was still clueless about that night. Bo looked at Lauren with a bit of an apologetic look while Tamsin smirked. "You mean you didn't tell her yet? See, this is exactly what I'm talking about."

Lauren looked at Bo sadly. "Tell me what?"

Bo played with the strap of her bag slightly. "Uh, well…"

A light bulb went off in Lauren's head and she looked at Bo incredulously. "It was you wasn't it? That night? At midnight. YOU were the one who kissed me."

Bo looked a bit alarmed but managed to maintain her composure. "Yes it was. And I thought you knew. I mean you did wake up at my apartment."

Apparently it was the wrong choice of words as Lauren looked pissed. "You're right…I did. So what else happened that night Bo? What else did I do that I don't remember?"

Bo looked startled but Kenzi jumped up to her defense. "Woah, woah hold on freshman. Nothing happened…you two made out like horny teenagers then we all went home. Where apparently you passed out right when you walked through the door."

Lauren glared at her. "How would you know, as I recall you went home with Tamsin."

Bo looked at her friend with surprise. "You went home with Tamsin?"

Kenzi waived her hand and nodded. "Dude, we talked about that. Anyway, alls I'm sayin is that Bo didn't do anything wrong."

Tamsin scoffed. "She took advantage of my sister when she was drunk."

Bo slammed her locker shut and got in Tamsin's face. "Hold on…I did not take advantage of anyone. And as I recall you were there too and didn't exactly do anything to stop it so why the protective big sister routine now?"

Tamsin squared her shoulders at Bo and stared down at her. "Just be careful is all I'm saying."

Bo laughed sarcastically. "You know what, don't worry about it. I'm done. Let's go Kenz…"

She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the locker room without a second thought. Kenzi wasn't really sure what just happened so she kind of shrugged before grabbing her bag and following her bestie out of the locker room to try and calm her down. Tamsin sighed and sat down on the bench before looking at Lauren who was staring at the closed door with unshed tears in her eyes. Tamsin bit her lip as she looked at her younger sister. "Lauren…"

"Save it. Why couldn't you just listen when I told you to stay out if it Tamsin?" The younger Lewis wiped her eyes quickly and grabbed her bag. She stormed out the locker room leaving Tamisn sitting on the bench sighing to herself. She wasn't sure what just happened or if she needed to fix something but she wasn't going to stand by and let Lauren get hurt without her knowing the truth about everything.

Outside Lauren marched angrily towards the exit gate not caring that she didn't have a ride and would have to walk home to her apartment. She was beyond pissed and she figured some alone time would do her good anyway so she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and kept her head down as she tried to process everything that happened in the last five minutes. She was tired of everyone withholding things from her and she was pissed that she had to find out about the New Year's Eve kiss this way. She had suspected it had been Bo who she shared the moment with that night but she wanted to be able to ask her on her own terms. She also felt slightly guilty for attacking Bo like that but she knew it was just a knee jerk reaction to having the news about the kiss confirmed. She sighed as she slowed slightly knowing she would tire herself out if she stormed all the way home and she was already exhausted both physically and mentally as it was.

"Going somewhere?"

Lauren jumped slightly as she was so lost in thought and she looked up at Crystal who was leaning against the main entrance gate most likely waiting for Tamsin to give her a ride home. Lauren stopped walking and nodded to her ex with a small smile. "Yeah, home."

Crystal laughed. "You really want to walk in this heat?"

It was a warm afternoon but Lauren really felt the fresh air would help. "Yeah, I got a lot on my mind."

Crystal nodded and motioned for her to walk. "Want some company? As I recall you used to open up the most when you were sulking about something."

Lauren laughed heartily and shook her head as she fell in step with the other blonde. One of the biggest things that Crystal used to fight with her about was her inability to talk about her emotions and what was going on in her head so it was nice that they could joke about it now. Lauren shifted her bag to her other shoulder and looked at the blonde with a smile. "I'm glad you're here Crys."

Crystal gave her a wide smile as she kicked the ground a bit when she walked. "Me too Laur…me too."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Kenzi sighed as she peered at her roommate over the top of her laptop. The normally brooding pitcher seemed a bit more down in the dumps today than normal and Kenzi knew it was because of the fallout that took place after the game yesterday. When the pair had exited the locker room Bo didn't say much other than a few choice swear words and the steering wheel in her car seemed a little worse for wear.

"Yo…"

Bo looked up at her roommate but didn't say anything as she pointed to the earbuds in her ears and went back to reading her Economics textbook. Kenzi huffed and reached across the small kitchen table to pull one side of the ear bud out.

"HEY!" Bo glared at her as she reached for the object but Kenzi just raised an eyebrow at her. Bo had been doing a good job of sulking silently under the guise of studying and it was apparent to a blind person that she wasn't paying any attention to the textbook in front of her.

"So we gonna talk about this or you gonna sit here pretending to study?"

Bo shrugged and pushed her book back a bit. She wasn't in the mood for Kenzi's antics but she knew the raven haired girl wouldn't leave her alone until she divulged what was going on in her head. She took the other ear bud gently out of her ear and looked at her teammate with a raised eyebrow. "Talk away."

Kenzi nodded and stood up as she went to the fridge to grab them both a Gatorade. She handed the drink to her friend with a sigh. "So yesterday, that was exciting huh?"

Bo opened the drink angrily and took a big gulp before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I guess." Exciting was definitely an understatement and truthfully Bo wasn't quite sure what emotion she felt about yesterday. Anger, frustration and annoyance were the ones that came to mind first but Bo wasn't sure who she was angry at, what specifically frustrated her and why she was so annoyed with everyone. Including the smaller woman in front of her.

Kenzi nodded. "And that whole thing with you and Lauren?"

Bo sighed. "Is pretty much non-existent wouldn't you say?" Bo had spent the majority of last night tossing and turning as she replayed the events of the locker room over and over. The look on Lauren's face when she found out Bo was the one she'd shared her New Year's kiss both warmed Bo's heart and broke it slightly at the same time. Lauren's emotion went from happy to excited to furious in a split second and Bo wasn't sure how to interpret that.

Kenzi looked at her thoughtfully as she opened her own drink a bit more gently. "Well I don't know. I mean aside from Tamsin doing her normal thing of spewing random shit I'm not really sure why Baby Lewis got so upset."

Bo rolled her eyes. "Don't call her that she doesn't like it."

Kenzi snorted. "Dude, she's not even here. And besides, why do you care?"

Bo shrugged trying to act casual. "I don't."  
Kenzi nodded slowly. "Oookay, well, you need to tell mama exactly why Tamsin was able to get under your skin so quick. That never happens. Especially not with someone on the same team."

Kenzi propped her chin on one hand and gave Bo a look that said 'start talking.' Bo sighed and leaned back putting her feet up on the table as she balanced on two legs of the chair. "Tamsin just hit a nerve that's all."

Kenzi made a motion with her free hand while she rolled her eyes and glared at. "Such as…"

Bo tapped her pen on her leg impatiently. "What's with the shrink routine all of a sudden Kenz?"

Kenzi smirked. "Because who else would sit here and listen to you? Besides, you need someone who will call you on your shit Bo. And right now you're not fooling anyone."

Bo threw the pen on the table in frustration. "I'm just tired of everyone assuming they know me."

Kenzi looked confused. "Don't they?" Now, she knew his was a bit of a gamble, but she needed to push her friend outside of her comfort zone. As long as Kenzi had known her, Bo relied on her athletic ability to drive her. On the field and off she was an athlete first and everything else came second. It made her sad when Bo would push people away or alienate them because she was so driven and she knew from day one that Lauren Lewis had broken through Bo's typical façade without even trying.

Bo shook her head. "Everyone has their idealized version of what they think I am. Tamsin, Lauren, Ciara, Nadia…hell probably even you to some extent."

The raven haired girl looked thoughtful. "You wanna know what I think of you Bo?"

The pitcher raised an eyebrow slowly. "What?"

Kenzi gave her a small smile as she sat back on the table a bit facing her friend. "You act tough, like nothing bothers you and you don't have a care in the world, but I think you are super sensitive, overly cautious with your feelings and most importantly scared out of your mind."

Bo scoffed. "What am I scared of?"

Kenzi crossed her legs and leaned forward. "Scared of letting someone in. Letting them see the version of you that very few of us get to see. The stubborn, opinionated, argumentative, kind, caring, gently person I am proud to call my best friend."

Bo smiled as Kenzi nudged her with her foot. The smaller girl laughed and gave the brunette a knowing look. "And you need to apologize to Lauren."

Bo looked taken aback. "Me apologize? Why?"

Kenzi raised an eyebrow again causing Bo to sigh. "Because dude, unless you're serious about it being 'over' then you need to grovel."

Bo let out a frustrated noise. "You do remember she basically accused me of taking advantage of her right?" Annoyed that she needed to defend herself Bo glared at her friend waiting for an answer.

Kenzi rolled her eyes. "She was shocked. Think about it from her perspective man, she just found out her lady Romeo was the one she locked lips with on NYE."

Bo gave Kenzi an unsure look. "Why are you Team Lauren all of a sudden?"

Kenzi shrugged. "I'm not…I'm Team Bo…and if she makes you happy, which she totally does, then I can get on board with that."

Bo laughed and nodded. "Thank you Kenz. Sometimes I forget how great you really are."

Kenzi pretended to brush some dirt off her shoulder. "I know, I'm pretty amazing."

Bo rolled her eyes with a smile. "And humble too. Really it's your best quality Kenz."

The pair shared a hearty laugh and Kenzi wiped the tears from her eyes. She paused and gave Bo a quiet look and a gentle smile. "I meant what I said Bo. You can let people in. Maybe they'll get to see how great you really are."

Bo nodded and looked serious. "You think Lauren will forgive me?"

Kenzi nodded. "She'd be crazy not to. And, if she turns out to be bat shit crazy then I'm sure we can think of a creative way to deal with that."

Bo laughed and nodded as Kenzi got up to resume her seat across the brunette. She leaned forward and gave her petite roommate a look. "Speaking of, you never really told me what happened with you and Tamsin that night."

Kenzi brought her finger to her lips as a sign to be quiet and gave Bo a serious look. "Shhh. Study time now."

Bo snorted and nodded as she reached for her book. "Fine, but you'll tell me about this sooner or later."

Kenzi nodded. "Perhaps."

Bo smirked. "Don't test me Kenz…"

The pair looked at each other with smirks on their faces in a silent agreement to continue this later. They had mid-terms starting tomorrow and above all they needed to be sure they were ready for their tests. All the drama, the softball, the romantic issues would be for not if they didn't say in school and for both women it was their number one priority.

ooOOoo

"Hey Grimace, come on you're gonna buy me ice cream."

Crystal waltzed into the living room and threw Lauren's jacket to her as she made her way to the door. Lauren frowned at both the flippant attitude of her friend and the use of the God awful nickname that she insisted on calling her from time to time. Crystal always laughed and said when the other blonde was concentrating hard on something it looked like she was grimacing hence the nickname. The first time Crystal called her that she made a face that resembled the poorly chosen nickname and from then on it seemed to stick around, especially when Lauren was being grumpy.

"I have to study. And you don't need any more ice cream." Lauren rolled her eyes as she held up her Biology book and Crystal threw herself down next to Lauren in dramatic fashion. "Come on, you have plenty of time to study. Experts say taking study breaks helps improve memory retention. And I always need ice cream."

Lauren raised an eyebrow at the cheeky smile her friend was giving her. "Says the girl who didn't go to college. And you've been reading my Psychology book again."

It was true that sometimes when Lauren was studying Crystal would grab one of the unused text books and read quietly just keeping her company and Lauren always found it interesting that she did that and told her countless times just to go to school already. Crystal put her head in front of whatever Lauren was reading and smiled up at her. "Yes I have and the text says to take frequent breaks so let's go."

Lauren groaned and made a grunting noise as she pushed Crystal's head off her book and begrudgingly agreed. She'd spent the better part of the day studying anyway and since it was a beautiful southern California day why not spend a few minutes outside. Tamsin wasn't home as she was studying at the library with a friend so the pair locked up the apartment and headed the few blocks down to Westwood in search of ice cream. They took their time enjoying the warm air but Lauren was distracted as she was mentally going through the list of things she still needed to cover for next week's exams. Crystal watched Lauren zone out and she rolled her eyes as she huffed a bit.

"Hey…earth to Lauren."

"What?"

She looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow and frowned as Crystal laughed. "Dude, turn it off for five minutes. Enjoy the day with me."

Lauren sighed. "I need to study Crystal."

The other blonde smiled and nodded. "And you will. But you can spare ten minutes to be a normal human being with me right?"

Lauren rolled her eyes and smiled as they crossed the street. "Sorry, its just stressful. I don't know what to expect."

Crystal nodded. "Lauren Lewis as long as I've known you, and really it's been too long, schoolwork has never been an issue for you. You need to have confidence in yourself and know you will be prepared and do fine."

Lauren gave her a small smile. "Okay okay, I get it. I tend to over stress."

Crystal laughed. "It's not a bad thing. It's just part of who you are."

The pair shared a look and Lauren licked her lips as she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, so I hear you've been awfully chatty with a certain teammate of mine."

Crystal smiled and tucked some hair behind her ear. "I plead the fifth."

Lauren laughed heartily. "Don't get shy on me now."

The pair laughed and reached the ice cream shop they were headed to. Lauren had promised to get Crystal one of the coveted ice cream sandwiches she'd heard so much about and the blonde hadn't let her forget about the promise. After they got their treats they headed back outside and continued strolling along quietly eating until Crystal finally sighed and looked over at Lauren curiously.

"Hey, about the Nadia thing…it doesn't bother you right?"

"WHA?" Lauren was mid bite when Nadia had asked her question and she'd stopped mid bite to answer. Crystal laughed and rolled her eyes as Lauren chewed and swallowed before looking at her cautiously. "Bother me?"

Crystal nodded shyly. "Yeah, bother you. I mean, I know you got your thing going on with Bo or whatever her name is but I just wanted to check."

Lauren looked at Crystal with sincerity and smiled. As much as the woman could aggravate her to no end and push all her buttons with ease she was truly a good person at heart. Even when they were broken up towards the end of senior year in high school she was always Lauren's biggest supporter during the softball season and she made sure the quiet younger Lewis was okay. It was something Lauren appreciated about Crystal and one of the reasons she knew the girl would be in her life for a long time. They were more than just high school sweethearts, more than just star crossed lovers…they truly were soul mates.

"Crys, I want you to be happy. If that's with Nadia then I'd say you could do worse."

Crystal smiled. "Thanks. Really. It means a lot to me for you to be okay with this."

Lauren bit her lip a bit as she smiled. "So, there is a 'this' then?"

Crystal laughed and shoved the rest of the ice cream sandwich in her mouth. She chewed slowly and swallowed before raising an eyebrow. "There's the possibility of a 'this' but it's just nice to make a friend out here ya know?"

Lauren nodded. "I know. Speaking of out here…are you even looking for a place to live?"

Crystal gave her a look of mock hurt. "Are you kicking me out?"

Lauren laughed. "No, I actually like having you around. Kinda like you I don't know too many people outside of the team and to all of them I'm just Tamsin's little sister."

Crystal scrunched her nose. "Yeah I know. But honestly I do need to find somewhere else. I am tired of sleeping on ya'lls couch and my back is killing me."

Lauren laughed. "Well maybe we could find a bigger place and the three of us could live together?"

Crystal looked skeptical. "Or we could kick Tam Tam to the curb and rock out the crib."

Lauren doubled over in laughter at Crystal's attempt at being 'cool' and she just shook her head. "And I wouldn't get any studying done. Ever. But we'll figure it out right?"

Crystal nodded. "We will."

The pair continued their stroll and Lauren realized they were back on campus wandering around. She spent so much time shuffling from class to class that she didn't really take the time to appreciate the architecture of the campus which really was amazing. Apparently Crystal had though and she took joy in wandering around with Lauren showing her things she'd discovered around the school. The freshman laughed as Crystal bounced around excitedly and Lauren realized how much she really did miss her friend. She forgot how fun and energetic Crystal could be and it was a much needed break for her from the monotony of the day to day she'd been sucked in to. Eventually they made their way to some benches behind one of the lecture halls and the pair sat down to rest a bit.

"So, you've dodged the topic long enough. Spill."

Lauren picked at some lint on her pants. "Spill about what?"

Crystal looked at her carefully. "You and Bo? What happened? Up until yesterday you were on cloud nine and after the game you look like someone kicked your puppy."

Lauren frowned. "I'm just stressed about mid-terms."

Crystal raised an eyebrow. "Uh I call bullshit. Now I am your oldest friend who's also seen you naked so really, you can't hide anything from me. It's okay Laur…you can talk to me."

Lauren squinted as she looked up into the sky. "I don't know. I said some horrible things to her yesterday and I think she's over it."

Crystal frowned. "That doesn't sound like you. What happened?"

Lauren sighed and looked at her friend sadly. "Things got heated after the game and she and Tamsin were fighting. I found out she was the one I kissed on New Year's and I kind of let her have it about what else did she do…"

Crystal's eyes bugged out a bit. "Hold on. Did you seriously accuse her of taking advantage of you? Bo. The girl you were babbling about being so sweet and courteous and gentle? Seriously?"

Lauren nodded and sighed again. "I know, I know. I didn't mean it Crys, but I was pissed about the game and seeing her and Tamsin arguing just got me going."

Crystal shook her head. "You need to apologize to her."

Lauren shrugged. "I'm not sure she'll even talk to me at this point. It was bad Crys. Honestly."

Crystal nodded and stood up. "Come on Grimace. You gotta work for it."

Lauren looked up at her and shook her head. "I think I should wait. I think she's the type that needs to cool off first."

Crystal shook her head. "It doesn't matter what she needs. You need to show her you didn't mean it and that you're still into her. And not just _tell_ her but _show_ her."

Lauren sighed. "I don't even know what to do."

Crystal smiled. "Luckily for you I'm good at this shit or did you forget?"

This earned a smile from Lauren and she nodded as she stood up. "Yeah you do grovel pretty well. But seriously Crys, I'm not sure what I can do."

The optimistic blonde just smiled. "One step at a time Laur. Little things first and just show her you're for real."

Lauren nodded. "Thanks Crystal. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Crystal laughed. "I know. Now lets' go. This California sun is starting to sear my fair skin."

The pair laughed and made their way back towards the apartment talking about much lighter things after the heavy moments they'd had earlier. As the sun started to set over downtown Los Angeles Lauren sighed hoping against hope that her friend was right. Because regardless if she acknowledged it or not, this whole thing with Bo was affecting her more than she wanted to admit and she wanted a chance to finish what they'd started.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

KNOCK KNOCK

Bo sighed as she marked the spot in her book that she had read up to and stood up slowly. It was Thursday of mid-term week and she'd had the majority of her tests earlier in the week but her International Business class had the exam scheduled for Friday and she was glad to have the extra time to study as it was her worst class. Coach had also been lenient on them as well scheduling only 2 hour practices this week and the softball gods had smiled on them as they didn't have any games scheduled until Sunday.

Bo quietly made her way across the living room to open the door and she was shocked to find a certain blonde standing there looking quite distressed. "Lauren? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

She ushered the blonde in and looked at her apprehensively as she seemed to be in a bit of a daze before finally looking at Bo with a sad smile. "Bo…I don't know what to do."

Lauren flopped down on the couch and looked at Bo nervously. The brunette was a little unsure of exactly what was going on so she cautiously sat on the arm of the chair next to the couch and looked at Lauren carefully. "I'm not sure what you're talking about…care to elaborate?"

Truthfully Bo was hopeful that Lauren was talking about anything other than the weird air that seemed to surround them this week. She hadn't had an actual conversation with the blonde since the locker room incident which was pretty impressive considering the amount of time they'd spent together at practice. Bo kept her communication with Lauren strictly softball related and she managed to never be alone with the girl either before or after practice. Even Tamsin found Bo's behavior a little strange and last night when she found Lauren drowning her sorrows in a bowl of ice cream over the brunette she'd finally hit the roof with the situation.

Lauren had explained, in very loud and clear terms that Tamsin had crossed the line and even though she loved her because she was her sister at that moment it was the only reason she even tolerated her. Lauren put her foot down with Tamsin about muddling in her life and she told her older sister that if she did that again then she was jeopardizing not just the trust they'd built over the years but also the bond they shared as sisters. Tamsin told Lauren she was only trying to help and look out for her younger sister but Lauren explained that it was fine when they were kids and she was getting picked on but that she was an adult and she needed to learn some life lessons even the hard way…

ooOOoo

 _"Wait, so you're basically telling me to stay out of your life?" Tamsin stood there with her hands on her hips staring at Lauren as if she'd gone crazy. Suffice it to say the younger Lewis had changed somewhat since she'd been in college but what Tamsin couldn't see was that it was Lauren coming into her own as a woman and getting out from under the shadow of her older sister._

 _"No Tam…I'm just saying that you aren't mom and dad. Some things I'm going to have to learn on my own. I just need you to be my big sister and let me try." Lauren gave her a sad smile and sighed as Tamsin looked up at the ceiling with a huff._

 _"You're just going to get hurt Laur…"_

 _Lauren raised an eyebrow. "And If I do then I'll learn from it. You can't protect me forever Tamsin."_

 _"You don't understand Lauren. It's not like back home…"_

 _Lauren put her hands on her hips. "Not like back home or not like Crystal? Which by the way don't think I forgot about the shit you pulled in the locker room. You had no right Tamsin."_

 _The tall blonde looked at her in disbelief. "I had every right. You've been sitting around her pinning over Bo fucking Dennis like she was your long lost love when in actuality that girl is bad news. She's a player Lauren…love em and leave em type."_

 _Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Speaking from experience big sister?"_

 _Tamsin's face hardened. "I wouldn't go near her if my life depended on it. But it's not to say every other girl and guy for that matter at this damn school and who knows where else hasn't tried."_

 _Lauren opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She'd never heard Tamsin talk about anyone like that and it was pissing her off that she was blatantly bad mouthing Bo without getting to know her. Lauren looked at her sister sadly and shook her head. "What happened to you Tamsin? You aren't this person. You aren't vindictive and mean but ever since I got here I've felt like all you've done is tried to keep me away from Bo. Why?"_

 _Tamsin blinked a few times and shrugged her shoulders. When she spoke it came out softly and only added to the confusion that Lauren had about the situation. "I just get bad vibes from her Lauren. And you're my baby sister. Of course I'm going to try and protect you."_

 _Lauren sighed. "I may get hurt Tamsin but I won't break. I'm stronger than that. YOU taught me to be stronger than that."_

 _"Fine…I don't like it and I don't think Bo's good for you but if you want me to support you then I will. But when she hurts you, I will kill her and you can't do anything to stop me." Tamsin gave her younger sister a small smile and finally gave in to Lauren's request to not be so involved in every aspect of her life. The pair had always had a close bond and as the older sister Tamsin was having a hard time letting go of that._

 _Lauren broke out into a grin and nodded. "Deal."_

 _She gave Tamsin a big hug which made the older Lewis groan and push her away citing the need to study as priority. The pair shared a laugh and Lauren nodded to Tamsin in understanding that while she didn't like the situation she needed to let Lauren be her own person._

ooOOoo

"Why do you have to be so…" Lauren sighed as her voice trailed off and she stared at Bo sadly. Even with her big speech to Tamsin about wanting to be her own person and about needing to figure things out on her own it still didn't stop her from stressing over Bo for the past few days. For the first time in her life Lauren wasn't overly focused on school or softball. For the first time in her life Lauren realized something else had completely captured her attention. And she hated it.

Lauren was never one of those girls who fawned over boys, or girls, or anything really and she was finding this situation quite disarming. In softball she understood the rules of the game, she understood weakness and strength and knew how to manipulate both to her advantage. In school and for the most part in the rest of her life she also understood what her role was and how to play her part magnificently.

With Bo Dennis…she was lost.

She didn't expect to come to college and find someone who would make her feel completely overwhelmed with not just emotion but also the desire to discover more about herself and the other person at the same time. Lauren didn't think she would ever be one of those silly girls who let romance take over their life but she was slowly becoming that person. The worst part about it all was that it happened out of nowhere. Up until the infamous locker room incident Lauren was okay with the slowly warming feelings she was having for the brunette. She was okay with being happy to see her and the comfort she found in Bo's arms even when things between them were just developing. It wasn't until those things were taken from her did she realize the extent of her infatuation with the older girl. Lauren found herself feeling something she'd never felt before.

Incomplete.

The word was foreign to her because for her whole life Lauren knew what she wanted and how to get it. Even with Crystal, Lauren understood her place in the relationship and when they split up she was sad yes, but she still felt as if she understood that things would be okay. Never losing sight of what she wanted the breakup with her high school girlfriend was the first time Lauren realized she needed to get her emotions under control if she was to be successful both athletically as well as academically. She allowed herself to cry over that split when it initially happened then she compartmentalized and moved on. Like Lewis's always did.

But with Bo…it was different. Sure, Lauren could still function and she could still go to practice and act like everything was fine, but on the inside, she was devastated. She didn't know why the brunette had such a profound impact on her but she knew she wanted more. She needed more. She deserved more from Bo than to just be tossed aside at the first sign of struggle.

"So what Lauren?"

Bo looked at her apprehensively. She had no idea where Lauren's head was at the moment and even though she needed to study seeing the blonde here at her apartment in this state, well…her textbook was the furthest thing from her mind. It's not like Bo hated Lauren or wanted her to stay away. In fact it was the exact opposite really, but given how hard everything seemed for them she figured the blonde thought it wasn't worth it so she didn't want to get her hopes up only to be crushed by reality.

Lauren ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "So…difficult?"

Bo took a silent breath as she contemplated that statement. Part of her was pissed for Lauren assuming she had any control over the events of the past week but the more mature part of her understood that Lauren was confused. Bo looked at the sad blonde and she knew she could make everything better for her but the loud part of her brain that took all of the outside factors into consideration told her it was a bad idea. Tamsin, Crystal, Kenzi…really everyone who knew them knew it was doomed from the start. At least that's what it seemed like.

Surprisingly enough however even though Kenzi really wasn't that keen on the idea of her roomie hooking up with the freshman she'd told Bo to 'fight for what makes her happy' and that if needed she'd be there by her side helping the cause. She translated that into meaning she'd deal with Tamsin and Bo laughed as she thought about the very petite woman taking on the very tall blonde.

"What's so difficult Lauren?" Bo knew what she was talking about but she wasn't going to make this easy on the blonde. If Lauren wanted to be in a relationship she was going to have to prove to Bo that she could handle it. Fair or not, Bo knew she had to be careful with this situation because the one thing she realized about Lauren Lewis was that she was the first person to ever come along that could break her.

And Bo Dennis did not break. Ever.

Lauren looked up at Bo and licked her lips slowly. "A big part of me wants to hate you Bo. I want to hate you for playing mind games with me, I want to hate you for promising me more and then turning your back on me when things got tough. But most of all, I want to hate you for making me feel."

Bo frowned when she listened the blonde and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Hold on don't put this shit all on me. You're the one who ran when things got tough."

Lauren looked up at her with an unreadable stare. "And you're the one who's supposed to break my heart. And you know what…I think you may have succeeded. I have to go…I shouldn't have come here I'm sorry."

Lauren stood up to leave but Bo quickly jumped in front of her and put her hands on her shoulders gently. "Hold on…see this is exactly what I mean Lauren. You don't want to deal with something and you run."

Lauren pushed Bo away slightly. "First of all, you don't know anything about me. Second of all, you know even less about how I feel."

Bo sighed as she dropped her hands to her side. "Because you don't let me. You know for someone as articulate as you seem to be you have a hard time talking about what's going on in your head."

Lauren glared at Bo. "And you seem to want to overanalyze things you shouldn't. Why can't you be more like this on the field?"

Bo rolled her eyes. "Because softball is about feel. It's about emotion. I don't need calculated risks."

Lauren frowned. "But in your personal life you do? Is that what I am? A calculated risk?"

Bo sighed loudly. "I don't even know what you're talking about Lauren. But you want to know what I do know? I know that I like you. I know things between us suck. I know your sister probably wishes I didn't exist. But most of all I know that I feel different with you than I have with anyone else and that freaks me out so much."

Lauren was staring at Bo as she spoke but she really wasn't hearing what she was saying. It was quiet between them for a few minutes until a slow smile spread across Lauren's face. "You like me?"

Bo looked confused. "You didn't know that?"

Lauren rolled her eyes at the very un-emotional response she got from the brunette. "I thought you were done with it?"

Bo sighed. "I'm done with the drama Lauren but it doesn't mean I don't have feelings for you."

Lauren smiled again. "I have feelings for you too Bo."

Bo looked at her seriously for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. "Well now that we have that settled…" The irony of the situation wasn't lost on her as she realized her frustration with Lauren mostly came from the fact that the blonde was not only younger in age but also emotionally. Bo wasn't used to having to be the one to guide the relationship and this was new territory for her.

Lauren nodded and smiled. "Look Bo…I'm not sure what's happening here but I do know I like you. A lot. Enough to stand up to my sister about you and I don't want to be proven wrong."

Bo's smile faded slightly as she looked at Lauren seriously. "What did you say to Tamsin?"

Lauren looked at her sadly. "That even though it may not succeed that I want to give us a try. We need to try Bo. I need to try."

Bo looked skeptical. "You don't know what you want Lauren."

The blonde shook her head. "I do know. I realize that for my whole life I've been doing what I'm supposed to because I was supposed to. I never made decisions for me. _This_ decision is for me Bo."

Bo sighed. "And if it doesn't work?"

Lauren shrugged. "At least we tried."

The pair stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Bo nodded and offered her hand to Lauren who took it slowly. Bo smiled and kissed the back of her hand gently. "This is crazy…and will probably end in flames but I'm willing to try if you are."

Lauren smiled and used their joined hands to pull Bo towards her. She wrapped her arms around Bo's neck and nodded as she bit her lip nervously. "No holding

back…this time its for real."

Bo shook her head as she leaned in for a kiss. "No, this time it's for keeps."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Bo…"

"Lauren…"

"Stop it…I know what you're doing"

Bo smirked. "What am I doing?" The blonde huffed as she flipped through her textbook absentmindedly. They were attempting yet another study session even though mid-terms finished up yesterday for both of them. It was Friday night and Bo's jaw dropped when Lauren stated she needed to study considering it was their first weekend as a 'real' couple.

"Can we take a break already?" She was getting restless and Bo had no idea how to get Lauren to understand that college didn't require studying 24/7. She'd offered to take Lauren out on what would technically be their second-first-date but the blonde declined instead opting to stay in and study at Bo's apartment since Tamsin decided hers needed to host a post-midterm party and Kenzi opted to go citing she never passed up a good time and alcohol.

"Okay, okay we can take a break." Lauren marked the spot in her text where she was reading and shut the book with a smile as she leaned over and got comfortable on Bo's side. They were sitting on the couch with their study material strewn about them haphazardly as Bo had put her foot down about this not needing to be a 'legit' study session. In truth she wasn't doing much more than watching Lauren intensely read through her Biology book but for the time being it was enough for her to just be near the younger girl.

Bo smiled as Lauren yawned and snuggled into her side as she wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist. She had maneuvered them gently down into a lying position and she laughed when the blonde's eyes closed and she seemed to purr lightly. "Tired?"

Lauren yawned. "No…I'm fine." She snuggled a bit more and Bo just laughed as she nodded her head. "Okay…so what do you want to do tomorrow? It is the weekend and I am not letting you study again. We're young and free…we should be out there having fun."

The blonde peeked one eye open and raised her eyebrow slightly. "Did you really just say that?"

Bo nodded and gave her a serious look. "You betcha. And as someone who is older than you I am giving you some valuable advice."

Lauren laughed. "But as someone older you need your rest too…can't have your decrepit self running a muck all over the place."

Bo looked down at her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Did you just call me old?"

The blonde shrugged. "No, I was simply supporting your earlier statement. You pointed out the fact that you are older."

A smirk spread across Bo's face as she shifted slightly so Lauren was lying more on top of her than beside her. She ran her hands lightly down the blonde's sides and gave her a sweet smile. "I may be older honey but I'm also wiser." Out of nowhere she gripped the blonde's sides tightly and smiled as she received the desired effect.

"BO STOP!" Lauren had tears running down her face as she was both held in place as well as tickled mercilessly by the woman lying beneath her. She had no idea how Bo was able to manage this but no amount of squirming seemed to get her any closer from breaking the hold Bo had on her. Bo's smile seemed to just grow in amusement as Lauren wiggled erratically above her and if she wasn't getting so much enjoyment out of seeing Lauren so caught off guard she probably would have been turned on by now. It didn't help that Lauren was wearing a pair of baggy sweatpants and a tank top citing comfort as her main outfit goal since they were staying in and she couldn't help herself as she enjoyed the view of Lauren's chest in said tank top as the blonde thrashed around. It's not like Bo was purposely trying to get an eyeful but as luck would have it she was about face level with the top of Lauren's tank top…which happened to show off just enough skin for Bo to be interested in what was beneath.

"BO!" The blonde cried out behind a fit of laughter as Bo hit a particularly sensitive spot on her ribs. She was trying to move as little as possible as she realized the compromising position they were in but she couldn't help it as the brunette didn't let up. Finally she had enough and backed up forcefully causing Bo to finally stop with the torture.

Both women were breathing heavily and Bo could see the slight flush that was running up Lauren's cheeks from the laughter and exertion of being tickled. She was pretty sure she was in a similar state and for a second both women weren't sure what to say or do in the moment. Finally, Bo cleared her throat and sat up slightly. "Still think I'm old?"

Lauren rolled her eyes as she sat up herself and leaned on the arm of the couch opposite Bo. She shrugged with a smile. "I guess you're still pretty spry…for now."

They shared a laugh and Bo leaned back on the arm of the couch closest to her with a happy smile on her face. Lauren looked at Bo and smiled to herself at how content the older girl looked. It still sort of amazed her that in such a short time since she met Bo she not only managed to fall for her even though she told herself she wouldn't be looking for romance while she was at school, but she came to accept the fact that the older girl was someone she needed in her life. Lauren wondered what Bo really saw in her though and she couldn't help but think some of it had to do with the fact that she was the 'unknown' and that maybe her sister was right and she was just another conquest.

"Hey…why so serious?" Bo nudged Lauren with her foot and frowned as she noticed the intent look on Lauren's face. Bo was used to seeing this look when they were on the field but when they were off of it she was used to the blonde smiling and joking or being her innocent adorkable self.

"Just thinking…" Lauren bit her lip as she looked at Bo with slight embarrassment. Even though she'd wondered what the brunette saw in her a million times her gut instinct told her it was more than just a conquest. If that's all it was Bo would have come and gone already and although she knew she was probably right a small part of her still worried.

"Wanna share or are you just gonna stare at me like you're trying to decide how you want to kill me?" Lauren's eyebrows went up in surprise and she chuckled slightly as Bo laughed and scooted over a bit to wrap her arms around the blonde's waist lightly. "Better…now what's wrong?"

Lauren sighed as she picked at some imaginary lint. "Bo…I have a question and I'm not sure how to ask it."

Bo looked at her still slightly serious face and nodded as she sat up a bit. "Okay, well I say just ask. You can trust me Lauren."

The blonde looked at her apprehensively. What she wanted to ask was something that was probably disrespectful to the brunette, correction – to her girlfriend now, but she needed to for her own sanity. "Well…I mean…I just…I've only ever dated one person before."

Bo nodded slowly. "Okay, yes the girl currently living with you. I remember."

She frowned as Lauren barely managed a smile at her attempt at humor and sighed as the blonde nodded slightly. "Yes…and she's moving out next month by the way. Anyway…that's not important. As I was saying…I've only dated one person…so I'm not really sure…I mean…I don't know what you…expect?"

The final word was said so softly Bo almost missed it but she heard the true question loud and clear. For a split second she allowed herself to be furious at the intent of the question but then the logical side of her brain considered the source. She knew Lauren was young, most likely inexperienced as she didn't take her to be the type to sleep around and she knew whatever version of her reputation Lauren had heard probably wasn't favorable for her. Given all that though, she was happy Lauren had taken the time to get past the rumors and get to know her enough to actually want to be with her.

"Okay, I think I know what you're asking and I'm not sure how to say this tactfully so I'm just going to say it. If I just wanted to sleep with you I would have by now."

It was a blunt statement but one that needed to be said and some part of the younger girl appreciated the truthful response she got from the brunette. Lauren nodded and gave her a small smile. "Please don't be upset, but I don't know how else to explain I guess?"

Bo sighed and looked at Lauren with a sad smile. "Look, I know people have opinions about me. I know there are rumors. And if you want to know something, just ask. But be prepared for the truthful response okay? I'm not mad…it's just shitty that you even have to ask."  
Lauren bit her lip and looked down feeling very, very…very guilty. She knew she probably should have just kept her mouth shut but then again she knew if she'd done that it would have bothered her. A lot. She looked over at Bo and put her hand on the brunette's arm lightly. "I'm sorry Bo. Really. I'm not making assumptions or anything, I just wanted to put it out there sooner rather than later okay?"

Bo laughed and nodded. "Like I said…I get it Lauren. And I'll tell you a secret. I've only ever…slept with…two people." Lauren's jaw dropped before she could control it and the brunette just shook her head at the blonde's reaction. Bo's eyebrow went up in surprise. "Wow…thanks for that."

Lauren blushed and stuttered slightly as she back tracked. "No…I mean…really? I just thought…"

Bo rolled her eyes and reached for the blonde who curled up in her arms. "You thought that because Kenzi and probably Tamsin talk about me and my social life so much that I'm more experienced? Well, I've gone out on many dates…yes. Just haven't taken very many of those dates to bed."

Lauren laughed and felt as though a weight had lifted off of her chest. It was the one area of the relationship she wasn't sure about and now that she knew for certain that Bo wasn't a 'player' as Tamsin called her she felt much more relaxed. Bo kissed Lauren's forehead lightly and smiled as the pair sat there in silence for a few seconds before she looked down at the blonde. "Since we're on the topic…and asking truthful questions I have one for you."

Lauren leaned back to look up at her slightly. "Okay…what is it?"

Bo raised her eyebrows slightly. "You're not…I mean I'm assuming you and Crystal…" It wasn't really something she wanted to know per se but it was something she felt she needed to get out in the open. She knew Lauren had dated the blonde, and her pride…or stubbornness…wanted to know if she'd slept with the girl as well. Even though she assumed the answer was yes she needed to hear it so she could process it and move on.

Lauren rolled her eyes and laughed. "Are you asking me if I'm a virgin?"

Bo looked shocked at the matter-of-fact tone of voice the blonde was using and she nodded slightly. "Maybe."

Lauren laughed. "Well the answer is no. I don't know if that makes you glad or disappointed."

Bo narrowed her eyes slightly. "Actually it makes me a little jealous knowing you're living with the one person you've slept with."

Lauren raised her eyebrow. "Who said it was just one person?"

Bo's mouth hung open and she sat up a bit. "What?" This statement made her both intrigued and slightly jealous and she gave Lauren an incredulous look, especially when the blonde bit her lip trying to hide a smile.

Giving up Lauren just laughed and shook her head as she patted Bo's knee. "You're so easy. And for the record…it was one. Just her."

Bo huffed a bit as she settled back against the couch. "Just to be clear…at some point…we will…"

Lauren licked her lips and rolled her eyes as the faux innocent look Bo was giving her. "I knew it…you're just trying to get me into bed."

Bo laughed as she pulled Lauren close. "Is that such a bad thing?" One hand had snaked around Lauren's neck and she smiled as the blonde leaned into her and kissed her softly.

Lauren relaxed against Bo and hummed as the brunette's tongue lightly traced her lips. "Not at all…" It was a bit uncharacteristic for the blonde to be so carefree but she just couldn't help herself when she was around Bo. Normally she was much more controlled and even with Crystal she had desired the other blonde but it was nothing in comparison to how she felt about the brunette. She laughed as Bo pulled her even closer and she briefly opened her eyes to glance at the textbook sitting on the table. She was supposed to be studying but maybe Bo was right…it was Friday night and they had the rest of the quarter to take care of that. For tonight, she would enjoy the time with her girlfriend…her stubborn, crass, intelligent, beautiful, sexy girlfriend.

ooOOoo

"Okay Tamsin you're up."

After her 'study session' ran late at Bo's the blonde just decided to sleep there since she'd called her sister and could clearly hear the party that was still raging even at one in the morning. They had an 8:00am practice the next day and when Lauren took in how tired Tamsin, Kenzi and a few of their other teammates looked she was glad she'd stayed the night.

Lauren smiled a bit behind her mask as she watched her sister tiredly pick up a bat and walk over to the batter's box. They were having a semi-situational based scrimmage today and so far Bo and Lauren had been so in sync that people were being put out left and right. The coaches were impressed by their sudden cohesion and gave them some extra time to work together to ensure this stays intact for the upcoming road trip.

"Alright two on, two out, tie game bottom seven. Let's see what you got Lewis." Coach nodded as she called out the situation and the two base runners took their positions at the corners. Lauren glanced to her right and saw their center fielder on first so she knew the girl would probably be aggressive and try to steal. Normally she would call pitches that would most likely result in the batter walking to first to load the bases. It was a risky move but with the bases loaded if Bo could get the next batter, who happened to be Kenzi and was no threat for a long ball, to ground to the infield then it was an easier out as any base would secure the end of the inning.

Lauren stood up and indicated time out to the coach who was acting as umpire and she jogged out to the mound with her sister glaring at her in annoyance. Tamsin was tired and she just wanted to get this over with and in no mood to take this so seriously today. If she thought about it she knew exactly what Lauren would be calling behind the plate but the Tequila that still appeared to be present in her system was clouding her judgment a bit.

"What's up?" Bo took her glove off and squeezed the ball in her hands slightly as Lauren jogged up to the mound. Lauren took her mask off and gave Bo a small smile as she raised an eyebrow. "How do you want to do this?"

Bo looked confused. "Do what? I thought you'd load the bases?"

Lauren nodded slightly but gave her a small smirk. "That is the smart and safe play especially with Kenzi on deck. But there is the other option…"

Bo raised her own eyebrow in return. "Which is?"

Lauren did her best not to roll her eyes. "Look it's no secret you have unfinished business with my sister. And as much as I love her you might as well get that over with because It will just fester."

Bo gave her a look of disbelief. "Hold on are you saying you want to go after her?"

Lauren shrugged. "She's tired and she's probably still a little drunk. Most likely she's expecting to get walked. I'm saying we can practice the smart play or we can have a little fun."

Bo smirked. "Why Lauren you evil, evil woman."

Lauren smiled and shrugged. "Besides, it's good to keep her on her toes."

She turned and put her mask back on as she jogged back to the plate where Tamsin was waiting for her with an annoyed huff. "You two about done?"

Lauren just grunted as she got in position. "You'll find out soon enough."

Tamsin gripped the bat as she got in the ready position. "What does that mean?"

Lauren glanced up at her briefly. "It means maybe you shouldn't get wasted the night before an early practice." She focused her attention on Bo and called for a high fastball. Having been the taller kid all her life, Tamsin had a love-hate relationship with pitches high in the strike zone. Most of the time she'd swing and miss or whiff them but on the ones she did connect with she usually took them out of the park. It was a big gamble but Lauren was confident that Tamsin's reaction time wasn't quite 100% so she didn't think Bo was in much danger.

STRIKE

As expected Bo delivered a hot shot high in the zone and Tamsin was way behind the ball as it went by. The loud snap in Lauren's glove earned a snicker from the rest of the team and a growl from Tamsin. "Don't be stupid Lauren. You know what the right play here is."  
Lauren licked her lips slightly. "I do. It's getting out of the inning." This time she signaled for a high fastball but one outside of the zone. She knew Tamsin would chase it and she wanted to get Bo ahead in the count. Lauren smirked when Bo flashed the briefest of smiles before starting her windup.

STRIKE

"Come on Tam Tam…" Kenzi mocked Tamsin slightly from the on deck circle although truth be told she was glad she wasn't at bat. The amount of vodka that she'd consumed was probably about half her body weight and to say she was hungover was an understatement.

Tamsin glared at Bo who held her stare and just gave her a blank look in return. She was used to getting evil looks from batters so this was nothing new and she was finding the utmost enjoyment out of looking good at her rival's expense. Tamsin took a step back and out of the batter's box as she took a practice swing to focus her concentration. She glanced at Lauren and tried to figure out what her younger sister would call next. Given the two high fastballs Tamsin thought Lauren would call a breaking ball down in the zone probably figuring she would be looking for something high again. Grunting to herself Tamsin stepped back in the box and got in the ready positon once more.

Lauren watched Tamsin's actions and she knew exactly what her sister was doing. She knew Tamsin was now expecting something low in the zone and she had two options here. She could call for another high fastball out of the zone that Tamsin wouldn't swing at and it would get her off guard again or she could take the more ballsy approach and call for something down the pipe. That was the worst of two evils though as Tamsin had enough power to hit a home run and she didn't want to put Bo in the spot of having to fend that off. Gritting her teeth she wracked her brain a bit and smiled as the idea came to her.

STRIKE THREE

The waist high, inside changeup caught Tamsin completely off guard and she stood there watching strike three go right past her without even taking the bat off her shoulder. She gave Bo an incredulous look and the brunette just shrugged as she smiled and high fived Lauren who had trotted out to meet her on the mound.

"Okay enough ladies. Bo, Lauren…that was ballsy but stupid. Don't do it again. And Tamsin…maybe work on that bat speed a bit yeah?" The team laughed as Tamsin nodded and gave a slightly embarrassed look. The coach gave them a few more words of advice before they headed out on the road trip tomorrow and she reminded everyone to meet at the field at 10am to leave for the airport. After that they finished practice with a bit of cardio and soon found themselves in the locker room finally getting to relax after practice. Well, most of the girls were relaxing. Tamsin and Lauren were engaged in heated conversation causing everyone but Bo and Kenzi to leave and give them some privacy.

"That was bullshit Laur." Tamsin huffed as she took off her practice jersey and threw it in her bag. She glared at her sister who stood there looking at her defiantly.

"No, if you had been on the mound I would have done the same thing. Aren't you the one who told me to always be one step ahead of the batter? Well guess what, I was. You're so hungover it was an easy choice."

Tamsin looked at her with a sigh and sat down on the bench looking at her sister with a smirk. "So now you choose to listen huh? And you're supposed to do that to the other team not me dumbass."

Lauren laughed and sat down next to her sister. "Well then don't be such an easy target next time."

The pair shared a laugh and Bo approached slowly and cautiously. "Everything alright here?" She still wasn't sure how Tamsin was handling this whole situation and she wanted to be sure things didn't escalate to the point of blowing up if it could be stopped earlier.

Tamsin looked up at her and nodded slowly giving Bo a curious look. "I should be asking you the same thing. What did you guys do last night anyway?"

Bo shrugged. "Studied, watched a movie, went to sleep."

Tamisn's eyebrow went up slightly. "That _all_ you did?"

Lauren scoffed. "Tamsin!" She hit her sister on the shoulder and shook her head as she slipped her hoodie on and grabbed her bag. She walked around and took Bo's arm gently pulling her towards the exit. "Come on, let's go before Tamsin starts the interrogation."

Bo laughed and nodded as she gently freed her arm from Lauren's grasp. "Go ahead, I'll meet you guys outside."

Kenzi and Lauren shared a look before they both glanced at Bo who just nodded. The pair shrugged as they made their way outside leaving Tamsin alone with the brunette, something Lauren wasn't finding totally comforting. Bo took a seat on the bench opposite Tamsin and gave her a patient look. "I know you don't like me and I know you don't like me dating your sister but I just want to tell you one thing."

Tamsin gave her an even stare but stopped tying her shoes indicating she was giving the brunette her full attention. Bo sighed again and licked her lips a bit. "I really like her, I'm not going to do anything to hurt her okay?"

Tamsin sat silently for a few seconds before finally nodding. "Okay. Oh and for the record I don't hate you. But just know, the next time you come inside like that I'll take you a yard." She smirked at Bo letting her know everything was okay and Bo nodded as she stood up with a smile. "I'd like to see you try."

She laughed and nodded to Tamsin who just shrugged and went back to tying her shoes. It wasn't exactly a grand gesture or anything like that but for the time being it was enough to clear the air between them. Even though Bo had been concerned that Tamsin would fight their relationship she knew Lauren had talked to her sister about backing off slightly. They still had a ways to go before they were good friends but for the first time in a long time that she thought everything would be okay.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Are we gonna get in trouble? Bo? BO?!"

The brunette laughed as she looked back at Lauren with an amused smile. "No…not if we don't get caught. Now keep your voice down." She motioned for Lauren to follow her into the stadium. It was almost midnight and even though the team had to meet the next day for the road trip Bo had convinced Lauren to be a bit adventurous and the pair found themselves at the field where they played their home games. Conveniently the infield lights were still on and Lauren had a sneaking suspicion this was all planned.

Bo easily hopped over the chain link fence that separated the stands from the third base dugout and as she helped the blonde over the fence Lauren gave her a curious look. "Done this before I assume?"

Bo just laughed and took her hand pulling her towards the dugout. "Maybe once or twice. But we're here for a little practice."

Lauren gave her an incredulous look. "Seriously. At midnight? Before a road trip?"

The older girl just laughed and shook her head. "You haven't heard what kind of practice yet."

She walked down into the home dugout and smiled as she saw the ball and bat she'd hidden there after practice right where it should be. She may have planned this in effort to show the younger girl her spontaneous side. She picked up the ball and bat and nodded with her head for Lauren to follow. The pair made their way to the pitching mound where Lauren gave her a confused look. "What are we doing Bo?"

The brunette just smirked a bit. "Well I've heard that the Lewis sisters were both great pitchers in their younger days so I'd like to see this in action."

She handed Lauren the ball and the blonde took it with the same confused look still on her face. "You want me to pitch? I'm not a pitcher Bo."

The older girl groaned a bit as she rolled her eyes. "Just go with it okay? And Tamsin already told me you knew how to pitch so give it up."

She smiled sweetly as she started to turn to walk towards the batter's box when Lauren stopped her. "Wait…honestly Bo you can't be serious?"

Bo laughed. "How about a wager?"

Lauren's eyebrow went up at the offer of a bet. "Okay…what are the terms?"

Bo smirked knowing even though the blonde didn't want to be there that her competitive nature alone wouldn't let this go. She glanced over her shoulder and eyed the bucket of balls that was kept in the umpire's storage behind the plate. "For every ball you throw or if I hit it in play you lose a piece of clothing."

Lauren's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Strip softball?"

Bo laughed. "Sure, if you want to call it that."

Lauren smirked and nodded slightly. "And if I get a strike?"

Bo winked and turned to walk to the plate. "I'm sure you can figure it out."

Lauren licked her lips slightly as she considered the options. She hadn't tried to pitch in years and really she only did it for Tamsin when her sister wanted batting practice. She wasn't terrible at it and she really understood the finer mechanics of pitching, it just wasn't her forte and something she did often. Sighing to herself she knew she was going to be on the losing end of this little game but she was determined to get Bo to lose at least a few pieces of clothing before it was over. Lauren looked at her girlfriend with an even face. "So when does this end?"

Bo laughed as she made a show of doing her batting warm up motions. "When we either run out of balls or one of us is naked."

Lauren laughed and nodded knowing Bo wouldn't take it that far. At least she hoped. Lauren turned around to try and focus on the task at hand, and ignore the fact that suddenly the images of Bo half naked were clouding her thoughts. So much in fact that she didn't hear Bo jog back up to her. "Hey…"

Lauren jumped slightly as she turned to look at the brunette. "Hey."

Bo smiled and leaned in slowly. She captured Lauren's lips in a soft kiss that became a bit more heated than expected as the younger girl's tongue became occupied wrestling with hers slightly. Bo moaned as Lauren brought one hand up and gripped the back of her neck lightly holding her in place. Bo was happily surprised that the younger blonde was taking charge, sort of, and she smiled as Lauren pushed her body into her lightly.

"Mmm…not that I mind but what was that for?" Lauren licked her lips as she finally pulled away due to a lack of oxygen. She was smiling at the brunette who was smirking slightly as she winked. "For luck…"

Bo turned and walked back to the batter's box leaving a slightly stunned Lauren watching her walk away. The blonde shook her head and let a small smirk creep across her face knowing it was Bo's way of trying to cheat slightly. After a couple of deep breaths to calm her now overheated body and focus on the task at hand. This may all be for fun but there was that side of the blonde that was always competitive and she wanted to beat Bo at her little game.

"Come on baby let's see what you got." Bo smiled and nodded to Lauren who rolled her eyes and nodded. The younger girl looked at this like she would a real game except there was much more at stake here. She took one final deep breath and paused slightly before starting a windup and delivering a pitch.

"LAUREN!"

Bo gave her a disbelieving look as she backed off the plate slightly. The blonde had thrown a semi-hard fastball high and inside causing Bo to have to move out of the way. Lauren shrugged and gave her an amused look. "So that's a ball right?" She reached down and removed her sweatshirt throwing it on the dirt beside her with a smirk on her face. Unlike Tamsin who was a placement pitcher oddly enough Lauren's natural style was to throw hard and her control was something to be desired. Probably why she never became a pitcher and probably the reason she should have told Bo that the last time she'd tried to pitch competitively she gave the batter a bloody nose.

Bo shook her head and raised her eyebrow at the blonde. She wasn't quite expecting this from the blonde but now Bo was determined to put her in her place. Romantic feelings aside she now wanted to teach the cocky freshman not to mess with her. Bo threw the ball back to Lauren and shook her head. "Keep going like that and you'll be naked soon. On second thought go ahead…" She winked at Lauren again and laughed as she took her place in the box.

Huffing to herself Lauren shivered slightly from the cool air on her skin and focused. She needed to get at least one strike in before this was all over or she knew she'd never live it down. Calming herself she began her windup again and delivered a low fastball with a bit more heat on it than the previous pitch.

"Dammit!" Bo had swung over the top of it and she shook her head as she removed her own sweatshirt before throwing the ball back to Lauren with a grunt.

The blonde smiled and nodded at her slightly. "You okay honey? It's kind of chilly tonight isn't it?" Laughing to herself Lauren just shook her head and turned to get on the rubber to deliver the next pitch. Just as she was going through her pitching motion she caught sight of Bo licking her lips slightly in concentration which resulted in her delivering a wild pitch that was nowhere near the plate. Bo laughed and motioned with her bat. "That would definitely be a ball. Strip."

Lauren glanced down in frustration and she had two choices at the moment. She could take her sweat pants off but she only had short shorts on under them or she could take her shirt off leaving her in only her sports bra. After a second of hesitation she whipped her shirt off and Bo's smile fell slightly as she looked at the newly exposed skin. She never really looked at Lauren in the locker room when they were changing, mostly because she didn't want to seem pervy, but in the stadium lighting Bo could see exactly how toned and defined Lauren's abs and arms were. Licking her lips she took her place at the plate again and tried not to think about how soft the skin must be on Lauren's stomach and what it would taste like on her tongue.

"I think that's a strike Bo." Lauren laughed as Bo didn't even flinch when the ball passed her by and the brunette had to shake her head a bit to clear her thoughts. "Hey that's cheating."

Lauren laughed and shook her head. "Sorry honey. Now I believe you owe me a piece of clothing."

Bo grumbled to herself as she stepped out of her sweats. She had compression shorts on under her pants as normal and she just shook her head in annoyance at the situation. "Ok that won't happen again." Bo didn't even care about the cold air on her legs but Lauren had to pause a second to admire her thighs and more notably her rear end in the tight shorts. If asked, Lauren would have to admit she's an 'ass' girl and Bo was definitely not lacking in that area. She allowed herself a few more seconds of visual appreciation before shaking her head and delivering the next pitch. Again it was close, but Lauren knew it was a ball and she sighed as she reached for the waist band of her pants.

BOOM

The pair had been so involved in their competition that neither of them saw the dark cloud roll in threatening to spill buckets of rain and before they realized what was happening the large drops began falling from the sky. Bo knew the weather forecast called for some rain that evening but she figured it wouldn't really hit as it usually was gorgeous southern California weather. The pair grabbed their discarded clothes and scrambled into the dugout to wait out the passing showers.

"Holy shit it's cold…" Bo was shivering as she put her sweatshirt back on and immediately wrapped her arms around Lauren once the blonde had put her shirt and sweatshirt back on. The pair shared a laugh at the situation and Bo frowned as the rain seemed to get heavier.

"Well that was unexpected." Lauren smiled as she settled in Bo's arms with a smile on her face. Bo was leaning against the corner of the dugout and Lauren was settled between her legs. The brunette looked down at the younger girl and laughed slightly. "What it doesn't rain in Canada?"

Lauren rolled her eyes. "It does but not normally on a night when it's clear and there aren't any clouds in the sky."

Bo looked out at the beating rain and sighed. "Well hopefully it passes through. Although I'm glad we aren't playing at home tomorrow. These conditions would suck."

Lauren nodded her agreement. "Hopefully it's sunnier in Arizona."

The team was headed to UA first before going to Arizona State, then Texas A&M then Baylor before heading up north to Oregon State and Washington before coming home. It was a long road trip but luckily for them it was the only time they'd have to travel this season until the playoffs. Bo wrapped her arms tighter around Lauren as she felt the blonde shiver again and she wished she'd at least put a towel in the dugout but she hadn't thought it necessary.

"I used to love the rain as a kid." The wistful tone in Lauren's voice wasn't lost on the older girl and she looked down at her with a smile. "How come?"

Lauren bit her lip as she watched the big rain drops hit the dirt and concrete at the edge of the dugout. "I don't know, but I always found it calming."

Bo nodded quietly. "I hated the rain as a kid. Meant I couldn't be outside."

Lauren looked up at her with a small smile on her face. "I believe you found more happiness outdoors than inside."

Bo sighed. "It just sucked not having anyone around so I'd go to the field and it became sort of my sanctuary I guess."

Lauren raised an eyebrow. "What about your parents?"

Bo blinked absentmindedly. "They died in a car crash when I was young. My grandfather raised me."

Lauren could feel the weight of the conversation taking over and she didn't want this to be a sad day so she sat up and looked Bo in the eye with a smile. "Well he did a good job I'd say."

Bo gave her a halfhearted smile. "Yeah but I would give anything just to have them see me play. My dad was a baseball player back in his day so I guess the genes run in the family." The pain and sadness was evident on Bo's face and Lauren felt her insides tighten a bit seeing how hard it was for Bo to voice her emotions.

Lauren cupped Bo's face gently with one hand. "They do Bo. Every game."

The brunette didn't say anything as she smiled and put her hand over Laurens. She hadn't quite expected to dump her emotional baggage on the blonde but they seemed to be under the spell of the rain or something and Bo found herself feeling very open and vulnerable. Lauren didn't say anything as she leaned in and kissed her softly. She wasn't exactly good at this kind of stuff herself and she really had no idea on how to handle the situation but she figured some kind of connection was better than nothing. Once again Bo let Lauren dictate the kiss and she could feel the emotion the blonde was putting into it. She appreciated the effort in making her feel better but it was starting to make her panic and feel a bit claustrophobic at the knowledge that she'd just shared one of her deepest regrets with her very new and very young girlfriend.

Lauren's tongue felt heavenly against her own and the brunette could feel herself responding to the kisses from the blonde almost immediately. Familiar signs of arousal were making themselves known and if she wasn't careful they would be sharing their first time together in the exact spot they will spend all of their home games. Bo pulled back slightly and sighed as she looked at the conflicting emotions in Lauren's eyes. She knew they were physically compatible an she knew they both trusted each other enough to progress their relationship quickly but part of her wanted to be patient. As she'd told Lauren before, she had only taken two of her previous relationships to bed and she didn't want to force the issue with the blonde, even though in the moment she was pretty sure Lauren would comply with whatever Bo wanted.

"I want to…so SO much but I don't want our first time to be here in this dirty ass dugout." Bo made a face as she spoke and Lauren laughed and nodded as she sat up a bit. The rain had let up some and she looked out at the field before turning back to Bo with a smile. "I understand and totally agree. Come on, I think we can make a break for it now."

She stood up and motioned for Bo to follow. Sighing with relief at not upsetting Lauren she followed the younger girl out of the dugout where they ran the short distance to Bo's car and jumped in before it started to pour again. Bo turned the heat way up so they could thaw out and Lauren looked over at the rain soaked girl with a smile. "We don't have to go home quite yet do we?"

Bo raised an eyebrow. "No…what did you have in mind?"

Lauren looked around and noticed they were the only car in the parking lot and she wiggled her eyebrows a bit. "Let's just enjoy the quiet before the chaos of this trip."

Bo nodded and nodded for them to climb into the backseat as she turned up the heater a bit more. Somehow they managed to accomplish this task without kicking each other in the face and Lauren laughed as Bo settled against her comfortably. "Speaking of which…what do you want to tell the team?"

Lauren shrugged as she played with Bo's wet hair. "I don't know that we need to tell them anything?"

Bo looked up a bit in surprise. "You sure?"

Lauren shrugged again. "I just don't see why everything has to be so dramatic."

Bo shrugged and smiled. "Okay. But I'm not denying it if asked."

Lauren laughed as she got comfortable and let Bo rest her head on her chest. "I would never ask you to."

Bo sighed happily. "Good." It had been a long, long time since Bo could just relax and enjoy her time with someone and she didn't want to ruin the happy bubble they were in. If she learned one thing from her past it was that rushing into things only resulted in catastrophe. It was a given though that she wanted to go further with Lauren but in the meantime Bo had no problem just being with her and enjoying their time together. What she didn't know however was that the younger girl wasn't quite so patient and willing to live for the moment. Not that Lauren was dying to sleep with Bo or anything but she was definitely curious about the older girl, especially given all of the obstacles they'd overcome together already.

Suffice it to say every time Bo proved Lauren wrong about something the blonde felt her feelings for the older girl grow exponentially. It has hit the point where Lauren was ready to make things more physical between them but a big part of her appreciated the fact that Bo was being patient with her and considerate of the situation. However, Lauren didn't want that to be the only reason they hadn't moved forward. She'd been glad that Bo had been receptive to their conversation earlier about her concerns since she was less experienced but a big part of her now wondered if that was the reason Bo was being so patient with her. She wanted to make it clear to Bo that she was emotionally invested and wanted to take the physical side of their relationship further but she had no idea how to do that. For a minutes she considered asking Tamsin about this problem but she knew that would not be a good idea.

Lauren sighed as she settled in and let the warmth of the heater and her girlfriend envelop her. She wasn't going to worry about this since they had the big road trip coming up and that needed her focus right now. This is one reason she'd been hesitant to get involved with anyone in the first place. More and more Lauren found herself distracted from softball and she wasn't sure how she really felt about that.

ooOOoo

"Dammit Lauren pick up!" Tamsin grumbled to herself as she looked at the clock. It was about one in the morning and her sister wasn't home the night before they were leaving for the road trip and the older sister in her was really beginning to worry. Not to mention the pouring rain outside made her even more nervous that something had happened to the younger Lewis and she had no way of knowing what that could be.

"She still not answering?" Kenzi chewed on a piece of toast as she flipped through a magazine at the kitchen table. Earlier in the night Tamsin had been trying to locate her sister but found out from the petite woman currently sitting in her kitchen that Lauren and Bo had left for an impromptu date. Tamsin hadn't been thrilled about that but she'd been bored so she'd invited Kenzi over to hang out until the pair returned home. Unfortunately for them that was about three hours ago and Tamsin was close to full on panicking.

"No and neither is Bo. Where the hell did they go?" She gave Kenzi a frustrated look but the dark haired girl just shrugged. "Dude, it's fine. Just relax and have a sit. All your pacing is making me nervous."  
Tamsin sighed and leaned against the couch with her phone still in her hand. "That's my sister out there somewhere so don't tell me to calm down."

Kenzi stopped flipping through the magazine and looked up at Tamsin carefully. "Is this the first time she's done this?"

Tamsin nodded. "Yes."

Kenzi looked shocked. "You mean miss perfect is actually having some fun and breaking some rule that doesn't exist? Oh heavens what on earth will we do with her?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes and took a seat across from her teammate. "Not funny Kenz…I just want to know if she's okay."

Kenzi motioned with her hand and laughed. "Tamsin, she's fine. She's with Bo. They're safe."

Tamsin grumbled as she set her phone down on the table. "I'd be happier if I just knew that. "

Kenzi sighed and looked up at Tamsin with a sad face. "You need to let her grow up a little you know. Just last year that was you."

Tamsin snorted. "Yeah but I wasn't running around at all hours of the night with Bo Dennis."

Kenzi smirked and shook her head. "No you were not."

Tamsin leaned back and a slow smile spread across her face. "Well...I was running around it just wasn't with Bo."

The pair shared a much needed laugh when Tamsin's phone finally beeped indicating she had a message. After checking the message Tamsin sighed and rolled her eyes. "They ended up at your place to dry off since they got soaked in the rain."

Kenzi raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly were those two crazy kids doing in the rain?"

Tamsin made a face. "I don't want to know that."

Kenzi laughed and stood up as she stretched. "Well…I guess that means I'm sleeping here tonight. I don't wanna hear whatever comes out of their 'drying off' session."

Tamsin narrowed her eyes. "Kenzi…"

The dark haired girl laughed. "Tamsin…." She just raised an eyebrow again as she walked past the tall blonde and down the hall to the bedrooms. It was late and they had to be up early to leave for the airport. Luckily for both women their roommates were a bit OCD about packing so they were ready to go already. After a few minutes of silence and Tamsin texting Lauren back telling her to get some rest and also convey how annoyed she was she heard Kenzi yell down the hall. "You coming to bed or what?"

Sighing she threw her phone down on the table and stood up to stretch. It had been a long day and she was tired and suddenly her bed seemed very very inviting. Even if it was occupied by a short, fiery girl who snored and liked to hog all the blankets.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

The next morning after they managed to get some sleep and rest a little they got ready for the road trip and headed to the school to catch up with Tamsin and Kenzi. The team got on the bus after the coaches gathered them and gave the instructions for the upcoming lengthy road trip. Bo and Lauren found themselves at the back of the bus and luckily for them the row was basically empty. Tamsin and Kenzi sat a few rows in front of them, and Tamsin wasn't happy as she was still a little worried about Bo and Lauren being or becoming a thing even when both of them talked to her to ease her mind. Couple that with the fact that yesterday Lauren didn't answer her phone for a while and went to Bo's to stay the night before her first big trip of the season left her fuming a little.

She couldn't talk with her this morning because Lauren knew what was coming from her overly protective older sister and wasn't having any of it. She just reassured her everything was fine and when Tamsin asked why she was out so late and soaking wet because of the rain, Lauren just told her again to let her live her own life and make her own mistakes. It was a subtle attempt to ask her to back off a little from her overprotectiveness, and Tamsin had to sigh and relent so there was a bit of silent argument going on between the sisters because for the first time she wasn't Laurens confident and the older Lewis felt a little overwhelmed at that fact, not that she would ever acknowledge that though. Kenzi saw the uneasy blonde beside her and did her best to try and distract the tense pitcher helping her to understand that Lauren was safe with Bo and that everything would be okay. Tamsin sighed and leaned back as she closed her eyes hoping the short drive from Westwood to the airport went by quickly.

Bo and Lauren took advantage of the quiet time and found themselves extending the intimacy they felt from the night before. Lauren caught Bo a few times stealing glances that she was certain the brunette thought were unnoticed and only served to make Lauren's heart swell a bit more with love for the older girl. The duo shared some playful touches here and there, after their interrupted 'practice' from the night before and Bo had been a bit more adventurous this morning, waking up beside Lauren and watching her sleep. As she watched the younger girl next to her, Bo broke her resolve for patience and she had an idea in mind to allow her to spend some time alone with Lauren after the team dinner later that night. Bo smirked as she watched Lauren sort through the notes she had one some of the upcoming teams and thought back to this morning and how adorable Lauren had been that morning.

ooOOoo

 _"Stop staring, you're starting to make me nervous and it's also weird"_

 _Lauren yawned as she peeked open one eye and Bo smiled at her raspy morning voice. She laughed enjoying the low tone that Lauren's voice held most likely due to her exhaustion, and Bo found her body reacting to it. There was something about how cute Lauren looked as she tried to glare at Bo grumpily and the brunette found herself feeling frisky. She had to take a couple of deep breaths to calm her body and couldn't help but chuckle slightly as Lauren curled up to her._

 _"It's not weird and you look beautiful while you sleep" Bo said to Lauren._

 _"Are you always this charming in the morning?" Lauren's tone was teasing but her face was turning red at the flush that was slowly taking over her body. She wrapped her arm around Bo's waist a bit tighter mostly to have an excuse not to have to look up at the older girl. Lauren wasn't quite sure where to go from here so after a few quiet moments she sat up and reluctantly left the warm bubble that seemed to envelope them whenever they were alone. Bo followed slowly but she could see that something was obviously on the blonde's mind._

 _After she let Lauren putter around trying to make sure she had whatever she needed Bo finally tugged her close and helped calm what she assumed were nerves about the upcoming trip. Lauren had laughed it off well but truth be told she was thankful at how easily Bo was letting this go. She had found herself stressing about their intimate moment that morning and if this is how she felt after just sleeping next to Bo, Lauren had no idea what to do when the time came for their relationship to move to the next level. She knew Bo was ready but being patient and for some reason Lauren found herself shying away from having that conversation with the brunette and instead trying to think of other ways to let her know, if everything went well, she wouldn't have to wait long._

ooOOoo

"Stop it Bo…" said Lauren with a serious face as she nodded towards the rest of the people on the bus in front of them. "We're not exactly alone…" Bo gave her a mischievous look before she put her arm around Lauren waist and sneaked her hand beneath the thin t-shirt the blonde was wearing making her jump a little. Lauren had to suppress a moan when she felt the warm hand touch her now heated skin and she found her hormones raging at the simple touch.

'G _eez I want to take her right here and now and she barely touched me…I'm so screwed'_ Lauren thought as she felt the familiar heat rise from her neck to her cheeks and the unmistakable response a little bit lower. Thoughts of the various ways she could take advantage of the privacy they had at the back of the bus flashed before Lauren's eyes and she finally looked up when she felt cool air instead of the warm hand on her side and she turned to look at Bo who was watching her with a smirk and a semi-curious look.

"You're cute when you're so lost in your thoughts"

Bo punctuated her teasing with a quiet laugh and a nip at Lauren's bottom lip causing the blonde's face to turn red again. Lauren cleared her throat and tried to act annoyed but she knew she was grinning like an idiot. She turned away from the brunette and pretended to study the stat sheet of some of the upcoming teams they were going to face.

"You ok?" Bo asked after watching Lauren was lost in her thoughts again and panicked a little thinking that maybe she was going too far too fast or just wasn't the right time. 'Maybe I'm scaring her, and she's feeling this is still too much and she's not ready' Bo thought as she panicked slightly thinking she was upsetting her girlfriend with her boldness. Thankfully Lauren gave her some reprieve with her response. "Yeah I'm good. Just thinking…" Lauren said looking sheepishly to Bo and giving her a small smile.

"About anything in particular?" Bo was curious about what was causing such a serious mood to wash over her younger girlfriend but the blonde just shook her head.

"Nothing important. Just tired I guess." Lauren snuggled down into Bo's side and the brunette shrugged as she leaned back and shut her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was anything to be concerned about but with the long road trip ahead of them unfortunately now wasn't the time to stress over that.

A few hours and one crowded plane ride later the team finally reached their first stop. Arizona was a much drier climate than southern California and the team was given instruction on making sure they stayed hydrated throughout the next few days to avoid heat stroke or worse. When they got to the hotel the coaches told them that the rooms were arranged for four girls and Bo, Lauren, Tamsin and Kenzi would be sharing one room making Lauren wonder how the next few days would go sharing such a small space with her sister and her girlfriend. Tamsin on the other hand couldn't be more pleased as this would allow her to keep tabs on her sister while at the same time making sure Bo didn't try anything stupid.

The team was scheduled to have dinner together with the coaches and a few staff that had made the trip and the players all seemed to be in good spirits during the meal. It was a rowdy bunch that sat around the large banquet table and Lauren found herself really enjoying this bonding moment with her teammates. At some point the discussion turned to the task at hand and the debate about the various teams they would be facing soon took center stage. Tamsin took this opportunity to pull Lauren aside but the younger Lewis wasn't pleased.

"Look Lauren I know I have to let you live your life but I'll always be your big sister and that means I'll always care for you. Last night you worried me when you didn't answer your phone and it was late. You never go to bed late before a trip so I just wanted to be sure you were okay and not getting in your business, I promise Lauren" Tamsin said with a calm voice and honesty, Lauren saw the genuine look of concern in her big sister's eyes, not the annoying look of someone trying to control her life.

"I know Tam and I love you for that, but you have to trust me, and if I say everything is fine and I'm good you have to believe me, deal?" Lauren said with a smile as she rubbed Tamsin's arm.

"Ok Laur deal, thank you, love you 'lil sis, now get out of here you're ruining my badass reputation with all this softness" She said winking Lauren and smirking happily. Lauren just laughed lightly and punched her sister on the shoulder and got back to their table. Bo gave her a curious look from a few seats away but the blonde just shook her head and resumed the dessert she was working on.

After dinner the team had a few hours to kill before it was lights out and they unanimously decided to head out and walk around the quiet little town that was near the hotel. Kenzi hung back and grabbed Lauren's arm as the blonde was following the group out of the lobby. "Hey, hold on there freshman."

Lauren stopped and looked at Kenzi with a reserved caution. "Yeah?"

Kenzi rolled her eyes. "Go grab a jacket. You'll thank me later kid." With a wink the petite woman strolled past the confused blonde and out the lobby doors.

"Where's Lauren?" Tamisn put her hand on her hip and Kenzi shrugged as she tugged the tall blonde down the street. "She went to grab a jacket. Relax."

Back inside Lauren sighed as she headed for the elevator. It wasn't cold by any means but she figured she had nothing to lose by being careful so she took the short ride up to the third floor and walked down the hall to the room. She slipped her key into the door and jumped in her shoes when she flipped on the light.

"Bo?"

Confused Lauren walked into the room as the older girl stood up with a smile. Bo locked the door behind Lauren and flipped the latch over the bolt on the door quietly. She walked up behind Lauren and wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist from behind. "Surprise."

Lauren smiled as she looked back at Bo with curiosity. "Um…what's going on?"

Bo kissed Lauren's neck lightly before moving in front of her while keeping her arms around her waist. "Look, I know we have a lot to talk about and we have a lot to figure out but this trip is going to be ridiculous if we don't do something about it now."

Lauren was still slightly confused about what Bo was talking about although she was quickly figuring it out. She glanced back at the door and raised an eyebrow. "Why Miss Dennis did you have this all planned out?"

Bo laughed. "No, but I won't say I'm disappointed."

Lauren shook her head. "Bo…"

Bo sighed and took her hand leading her further into the room. "Lauren, I know. I'm not saying I expect anything but I just want some time alone okay? Look, I told you before I wouldn't push you and I don't intend to but I just…why are you smiling?"

Lauren had to laugh at the confused look the brunette was giving her. "All I was going to ask was how long do we have?"

Bo grinned as she leaned a bit closer. "A few hours probably."

Lauren bit her bottom lip as she snaked her arms around Bo's neck. "Mmm good."

Bo let out a surprised sound as the younger girl pushed her down on the bed as she slowly brought her body down to rest on top of the pitcher lightly. It took Bo a few seconds to react as she had to push on Lauren's shoulders lightly to get her to stop. "Hold on…hold on. Are you sure? I mean…I wasn't joking when I said it wasn't about sex."

Lauren nodded as she smiled down at Bo. "I know. But I…" She didn't quite know how to voice what she was thinking so she decided to use action instead. She leaned in and kissed Bo slowly loving how the brunette's tongue found hers almost instantly. Lauren pulled back and jumped up to shut off the lights causing Bo to laugh. On her way back to the bed the blonde removed her shirt and pants and Bo found herself licking her lips in anticipation even though she could barely make out the outline of the blonde in the dark.

When she reached the bed again Lauren tugged on Bo's pants and the brunette got the idea as she wiggled out of them quickly before throwing her shirt and bra across the room. The clothes made a slight noise as they hit the dresser at the other side of the room and Lauren rolled her eyes before crawling up the bed with a smile. "Someone's eager."

Bo didn't say anything as she ran her hands down the blonde's body in an appreciative manner. She leaned up and nipped at Lauren's collar bone causing the blonde to bite her lip and lean her head to the side giving Bo more access to her neck. The brunette flipped them over causing Lauren to squeal slightly as she kissed her way up to the soft lips that were eagerly awaiting her. "Last chance Lauren…"

The blonde didn't say anything as she wrapped her arm around Bo's neck and pulled the older girl closer. Bo moaned into the heated kiss she received from her girlfriend and she felt herself grind her hips down pulling a soft moan from the blonde. Bo kissed a trail down Lauren's neck again and smiled as she felt the girl under her removing her own bra in haste. Bo put her hands over Lauren's to still her movements and she had to sit up a bit as she took a calming breath. She could sense some apprehension in the blonde and she didn't want to rush this if they didn't need to.

"Bo…what are…"

Lauren never finished that sentence as Bo pulled down her bra and took her time exploring the softness that was encased with her lips and tongue. Lauren gripped Bo's shoulders as she felt the older girl pay extra attention to her hardening nipples and she arched her back up to meet Bo's tongue at every pass. Smiling into her actions Bo used one arm to hold herself up slightly as she let her other hand trail down Lauren's body and ease her legs apart slightly more. She really wanted to taste the blonde but she wanted to take her time and it was taking all of her willpower not to just rip off Lauren's panties and dive into the treasure underneath.

"Bo…"

There was no mistaking the warning in Lauren's voice as Bo kissed a trail lower using her tongue to trace the slight outline of muscle on the blonde's hard stomach. She could feel the wetness developing between Lauren's legs and she was pretty certain her own underwear were ruined as she grunted when Lauren pushed not so gently on her shoulders indicating what she wanted.

"Patience babe…"

Bo smiled up at Lauren who was glaring down at her and she shook her head as she let her tongue trace around Lauren's belly button before pulling the soaked underwear off of the blonde. Bo had fully planned to tease Lauren a bit but the blonde surprised her when she returned the favor and flipped them over somehow managing to pull Bo's underwear off in the process.

"Lauren what…oh fuck…"

Lauren remained silent as she took a long lick over Bo's center catching the older girl completely off guard. Bo had thought Lauren would be more reserved in bed but this sort of demanding attitude was kind of turning her on more and she found herself succumbing to Lauren's actions. The younger girl had two fingers moving in and out of Bo slowly while her tongue and lips were wrapped around her hard clit and she was growing worried that she would pass out once she finished. Her hips were moving in sync with Lauren's fingers and for a second Bo was embarrassed that she was so eagerly giving herself up to the blonde.

"Oh shit…Lauren…harder…"

Lauren grunted slightly as she began sucking harder on the nub in her mouth and growled as Bo's hands wove themselves in her hair tugging slightly in appreciation when she began moving her fingers faster and harder inside the brunette. Bo's thighs were beginning to quiver and Lauren knew it wouldn't be long before her girlfriend finished and she used her teeth to lightly bite Bo's clit causing her to see starts behind her tightly shut eyes.

"Fuck fuck fuck…"

Bo had one hand still in Lauren's hair as the other was gripping the sheets in a death grip and when Lauren began rubbing the spongy spot inside her Bo just gave up the little control she was trying to maintain over her body. Her back arched hard off the bed and Lauren moaned as the warm liquid quickly filled her mouth while Bo's insides held on to her fingers for dear life. Lauren began lapping at Bo's clit lightly as she pumped her fingers slowly to help her ride out her orgasm.

Finally Bo's body stilled and she smiled lazily as she felt all of her nerve endings hum in happiness at what had just happened. "Wow…"

Lauren licked her lips as she smiled and slid up Bo's body to give her a soft kiss. "Wow…"

Bo laughed lightly as she felt the after effects of the orgasm still taking hold of her body and she tried to move to hold the blonde but her arms left like lead. Lauren laughed at Bo's almost incoherent state and she nudged her lightly. "Don't tell me you're worn out?"

The brunette shook her head as she held up a finger. "Just give me a second."

Lauren laughed as she nodded which turned into a surprised moan when Bo had suddenly moved and slid her fingers inside the younger girl. Lauren gripped Bo's arm in surprise and Bo smirked as she kissed Lauren's shoulder lightly as she began moving her fingers hard and fast in and out of the moaning blonde. Bo knew Lauren probably didn't need a whole lot at this point and she smirked to herself when she felt Lauren shut her legs slightly in anticipation of her own orgasm. Bo leaned over and swallowed the loud moan that Lauren let out when her body began to shake and Bo pushed herself up on her arm as she felt the energy return to her body. She let Lauren calm down slightly before she removed her fingers and brought them to her mouth licking her lips in anticipation.

"Mmmm…tastes good but I think the real thing is better."

"Wha…."

Lauren dug her heels in the bed as Bo slid down and began cleaning her up with her tongue being sure to pay special attention to her very sensitive clit. One arm held down the blonde's hips as the other spread her open slightly and all Lauren could do was claw at Bo's shoulders as the older girl ran her tongue all over Lauren's clit. Licking, sucking and nipping at the hard bud earned a different response and Bo was enjoying herself as she paid special attention to the way Lauren responded to each movement of her tongue. She could tell Lauren was getting close as her breathing got faster and faster and when Bo was certain Lauren was going to cum she sucked hard on her clit earning herself a rush of the liquid heat she'd tasted earlier. Bo licked all around Lauren's opening again this time being careful to avoid Lauren's clit as she didn't want to totally wear her out and she laughed when Lauren finally pushed her away.

She wiped her mouth as she slid up the bed and wrapped an arm around Lauren who was already half asleep given her exhaustion from their ministrations. She knew they needed to get dressed again because the others would be back soon so she somehow got the half conscious girl to at least put her shirt on as she slid a pair of shorts onto her girlfriend. She threw on her own sleeping attire before joining Lauren in bed again smiling at the way the blonde was snoring slightly with a big smile on her face. What she'd intended to be just time for them alone turned into quite the night and as she drifted off she felt her own smile take up residence on her face and she knew it wasn't leaving anytime soon.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"LAUREN! OPEN THE DOOR!"

Tamsin banged on the locked door loudly not caring if she woke everyone on the floor up. When her and Kenzi had returned to the room after spending the night out on the town with the team she was shocked to say the least to find the door locked. She pounded on the door again and growled as Kenzi tried to calm her down.

"Shhh jeez dude you're gonna wake everyone in this hotel up!"

Tamsin huffed. "Don't care. LAUREN!"

The door flew open to reveal an annoyed looking Bo on the other side glaring at Tamsin. "Just use your key dumbass."

Tamsin raised an eyebrow at her. "I did use my key. The deadbolt was on."

She brushed past Bo and not so subtly shoulder checked her as she moved further into the room to survey the scene. She breathed a sigh of relief to see Lauren snuggled up in one bed with the other bed obviously the spot that Bo got out of to open the door. Lauren peeked one eye open and groaned at the loudness that Tamsin brought to her peaceful slumber. "God Tam what is your problem?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes and plopped down on the bed next to Lauren. "Sorry I just…"

Lauren sat up and glared at Tamsin. "You just thought the worst because in your brain I'm your five year old sister who shouldn't be exposed to the rest of the world. Get over it Tamsin. We' already talked about this."

The older Lewis gave her younger sister a look of disbelief as she watched her crawl out of the bed she was sleeping in and slid into the other one next to Bo. Lauren didn't even look at her sister as she curled up next to Bo and closed her eyes. Truth be told Lauren was pissed that Bo jumped out of bed when Tamsin had been pounding on the door and tried to make it look as though nothing was going on. She and Tamsin had already talked about this and her older sister needed to accept the fact that Bo was part of her life now. She wasn't about to let Tamsin ruin the night for her and she would be damned if Bo backed down to her sister. She knew the brunette was just letting her take the lead and she wanted to show Bo that she would stand up for their relationship.

Tamsin watched Lauren snuggle down next to Bo and the older brunette not say a word as they seemed to get comfortable and try and resume the sleep they'd been getting. Kenzi raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything as she shrugged and grabbed her overnight bag to get ready for bed leaving Tamsin to glare at pair sleeping in the other bed. Knowing Lauren was putting her foot down about the relationship just make Tamsin sigh as she grabbed her own overnight bag and began to take out what she needed to get ready for bed. Normally she would have made an issue out of what just happened in the room but she knew they had a doubleheader tomorrow and they all needed rest. If she started something they would for sure be up late and she didn't want to jeopardize their chances tomorrow. The fight would have to wait for a more appropriate time but she knew she wasn't going to let this go. Just because her and Lauren had an understanding about the new relationship between her sister and their older teammate didn't mean she had to like it. If Bo Dennis wanted to date her sister she'd find out exactly what it meant to date her sister.

ooOOoo

"Let's go ladies…one down one to go!"

Coach Inouye clapped her hands as she gathered the team before the second game. They'd made quick work of the first game run ruling Arizona in five innings which gave them much needed extra time before the second game was to begin. Bo had pitched a gem of a game only giving up two hits and no runs and all their bats had been working giving her a much needed boost on the mound and the confidence that her team could back her up if needed.

Lauren sighed as she leaned back in the dugout sipping the Gatorade slowly to replenish her body with the much needed hydration. It was a hot one out on the field and in all her catcher's gear she was dripping with sweat and losing energy quickly. Bo sighed happily as she leaned back next to the young blonde and rubbed the back of her neck with her left hand. The heat had done a number on her as well and she could feel her muscles tightening up from the lack of hydration. She leaned back and shut her eyes to relax and smiled when she felt Lauren's fingers brush her hand lightly.

"Hey…you okay?"

Bo opened her eyes to see a concerned Lauren looking at her and she smiled and nodded. "I'm fine. I should be asking you the same thing. You okay after what happened last night?"

The pair hadn't really had time to talk about what went down when Tamsin had returned to the room and more importantly they hadn't talked about their night together. Bo had been happily surprised that Lauren put her foot down with her sister and she had ignored the looks that Kenzi was giving her wondering what exactly happened. Bo's smile fell slightly as she noticed Tamsin coming over and she sighed as she leaned back letting her head rest on the wall behind her again as she tried to relax. She was doing her best not to get involved in the ongoing feud between the sisters but it bothered her that she was the reason for the feud and she wanted things between the sisters to calm down.

"Hey guys."

"Tamsin…"

Lauren looked up at her sister cautiously but with a friendly smile. She wasn't mad at her sister, she was just firm in her belief of the relationship she had with Bo and she wasn't going to back down to Tamsin on this one. Tamsin gave the pair a genuine smile and sat down on the other side of Lauren as she stretched out and groaned as her muscles popped slightly. She didn't have to pitch the first game but she was supposed to start the next game since Coach didn't want Bo getting fatigued due to the heat and the fact that this was the start of a long road trip. Tamsin leaned back mimicking Bo's pose and she sighed softly.

"Lauren…look…about last night."

Lauren held up her hand. "Tamsin…I don't want to fight."

Tamsin nodded as she opened her eyes slowly. "I don't either. But it's going to take me a while to get used to this okay? But just know that I'm trying."

Lauren nodded. "Okay…fair enough."

Tamsin smiled and sat forward a bit to look over at Bo. "So do I need to do the big sister thing here or we good"

Bo chuckled. "I think we're good Lewis."

"LAUREN!"

Coach waived the young catcher over and she got up slowly as she wasn't sure she wanted to leave the two of them alone together. Shaking her head she made her way over to where the coach was sitting with one of the batting coaches and listened to them map out the next game. The other catcher had woken up with a bad case of food poisoning so she knew she would be catching both games on this hot, hot day.

"Hey…Bo?"

The brunette peaked one eye open as she looked at Tamsin cautiously. "Yeah?"

The older Lewis bit her lip slightly as she looked over at Bo. "Look…I just wanted to say…" She paused and sighed as she looked out onto the field with a serious stare. She wasn't sure where she was going with this but she needed Bo to know there was no ill feelings between them, just her being the big sister in this situation.

Bo took the blonde's silence as anger though and she stood up slowly not wanting to get into a fight with Tamsin. "I get it Lewis."

Bo started to walk away but Tamsin quickly sat up and shook her head. "Wait…look…I'm just trying to say I get it. I don't like it, but I get it. And I'm not going to get between you guys okay?"

The brunette nodded as she sighed and sort of waived at the older Lewis sister before walking away. She wouldn't hold her breath that Tamsin would in fact stand by and let their relationship just play out. She had a feeling there would be a lot more to it than that but if Tamsin was attempting to play nice she wouldn't stir the pot. Lauren trotted back to where they had been sitting and she watched Bo walk over to the trainer and get some ice with a raised eyebrow.

"What did you do?"

Tamsin huffed. "Nothing. Jeez."

Lauren sat down and stretched her arms out slightly. "So what's the plan for today?"

The older blonde laughed slightly as she undid and retied her shoes. If Lauren wanted to pretend everything was fine then she would play along knowing this was her younger sister's way of coping with things. "Well I'd say we get through the first half of the lineup then cruise through the back end."

Lauren nodded as she stretched her back out slightly. She knew Tamsin was right and had obviously been paying attention to the first game as they had easily gotten through the lineup earlier. Lauren knew this was going to be a walk in the park for her and Tamsin so she wasn't as focused as maybe she should be given that the first pitch was due in less than an hour. She may have been slightly distracted though as she watched her girlfriend get stretched out by the trainer. She could feel the blush rise on her cheeks slightly as the brunette lay on her back with the young trainer hovering over helping her stretch her back out. Lauren's mind wandered to last night and she knew the older pitcher was quite limber given the activity they'd taken part in.

"Lauren…hey…Lo…"

"Huh?"

She turned back to her sister who just shook her head with a roll of her eyes. She knew what Lauren had been staring at and she had to bite her tongue not to say anything stupid. "Let's go warm up."

Lauren nodded and followed her sister to the pitching cage. She needed to focus her thoughts on the task at hand but perhaps it was the fact that she knew they would easily put Arizona away or perhaps it was the fact that her mind had decided to permanently take a vacation and focus solely on the brunette just a few hundred feet from where she was standing. Shaking her head she got into position as she caught a few pitches from her sister who went through her normal routine of warming herself up before the game. They'd done this thousands of times before so Lauren knew she was safe letting her mind wander for a few minutes. She just hoped that when the game started that she'd be able to pull her thoughts together and resume her normally stoic game presence.

ooOOoo

"Go go go!"

Lauren groaned as she threw her mask off and turned around to find the ball that got past her. It was the sixth inning of the game and up til then she'd been totally focused on the task at hand but when they were batting last inning she'd caught sight of Bo leaning on the fence of the dugout and her mind had refused to settle down ever since. All Lauren could see was Bo's nicely shaped behind in her softball pants which didn't leave much to the imagination earning her a groan as she'd finished strapping on her catcher's gear.

"Home home HOME!"

Her inability to focus had led to her missing a drop ball that her sister had thrown and with runners on first and second she knew they were about to give up unearned runs, something the Lewis sisters had never done. Until now. Lauren located the ball and flipped it to her sister who had charged in to cover the plate and the younger Lewis breathed a sigh of relief when Tamsin had tagged the second runner who had ambitiously tried to take two instead of holding up at third.

It was the third out of the inning and she kicked herself mentally as she grabbed her mask and followed the team into the dugout. She knew Coach was going to be pissed and sure enough as soon as she stepped foot in the dugout one of the assistant coaches was all over her about focusing and paying attention to what she was doing. Lauren didn't say anything as she just nodded and took her gear off to breathe a little between innings. They had a safe six run lead but she knew better than to give anything away and she was pissed that she'd let herself lose her intensity.

"Hey…it's alright Lauren, no damage done."

Lauren looked up and sighed. She knew Bo was trying to cheer her up but for some reason it set her off a little bit as she stood up and threw her glove against the back of the bench. "It's not nothing Bo. I don't give up runs."

Bo sighed and put her hands up. "Okay okay, but it was a tough pitch to stop so I'm just saying don't sweat it."

Lauren growled. "I should have stopped it." She brushed past Bo and walked to the end of the dugout to get some water. Bo watched her walk away and shook her head as Kenzi patted her shoulder. "Dude, you know those two are super intense. She'll be fine." Bo just kind of grunted as she listened to her best friend and she sighed before moving back up to the rail to cheer her team on. She wasn't sure how to handle Lauren in this situation since she'd never been here with the young catcher and she hoped Tamsin would have some words of wisdom for her.

They put up two more runs before heading back out for the top of the seventh inning and Lauren kicked the dirt in frustration as she made her way to home plate. Tamsin came up beside her and swatted her with her glove lightly. "Let it go Laur…no worries now. Let's go."

The Lewis sister's nodded at each other and thankfully Lauren seemed to settle down quickly as her and Tamsin made quick work of the side in order giving them the sweep of the doubleheader. The team had their normal after game meeting where Coach stressed the need to stay focused throughout this long trip and not so subtly looked at Lauren as she stressed this point. The younger Lewis didn't say anything as she listened to what was being said while ignoring the looks the rest of her teammates were giving her.

After the meeting the team was dismissed back to the hotel where they would have an early dinner before getting on the bus to head to their next destination. The other Arizona school was only a few hours away so they'd leave right after dinner to get in just before midnight. The had a free day the following day and then a double header against U of A followed by an exhibition game against the US National team as part of the trip the National team was on. Bo had actually received an invite to play on the team that year but since the Olympics had done away with softball and she had two more years of eligibility she'd decided to return to UCLA and help defend their national championship. Given how things had played out she now thought this was the best decision she'd ever made and she knew that invite would still be there in two years when she graduated, as long as she stayed healthy.

Lauren was quiet as the four girls packed up their stuff and Bo was slightly hurt that Lauren took a seat at the front of the bus instead of the rear like she'd done on the last bus ride. Bo sulked a little as she had no idea why Lauren was shutting her out and Tamsin had fallen asleep once they got onto the bus so she couldn't ask her what the deal with the younger sister was. When they pulled into Scottsdale the team was dragging after the long day and the Coaches issued their keys after checking into the hotel in short order. Bo followed Kenzi up the elevator and stopped in front of room 213 before facing Bo with a slight smile.

"Hold on there, take this…Room 219."

Kenzi nodded with her head and Bo sighed in annoyance. "What the hell are you talking about Kenz? It's late, I'm tired and just want to go to bed."

Kenzi sighed. "And this hotel is smaller so we are two per room. I may have slipped Tamsin's key with yours so you and your girl can work out whatever is bothering you."

Bo looked skeptical. "And you don't think this will be a problem?"

Kenzi smirked. "I can keep Tamisn busy, you work out whatever your issue is. If it's not fixed we'll trade back tomorrow night."

Bo sighed as she took the other key from Kenzi and nodded. She knew her best friend was trying to help but she wasn't sure where Lauren's head was right now so she didn't know if this was the best thing at the moment. She walked down the hall and opened the door slowly not really certain of what she'd find.

"Bo?"

Lauren looked startled when the brunette entered the room. She'd expected Tamsin to be behind her when she got into the room but when her sister didn't show she figured she just stopped to get a soda or something. "Hey…"

Bo entered the small room slowly and put her bag down on the dresser next to where the small television was sitting. Lauren gave her a small smile as Bo walked over and sat down gently on the bed next to the blonde. "So…you wanna talk about it?"

Lauren rubbed her hands on her sweats as she bit her lip. "Can we just forget about it?"

Bo sighed as she looked at Lauren carefully. She probably should have let it go but she felt this was one of those pivotal moments in their relationship and if they were going to start with brushing things under the rug then they would always do that and eventually it would blow up in their face. Bo reached over and took one of Lauren's hands gently. "We can, but it won't fix anything. Look, if something is wrong talk to me. Let me help."

Lauren nodded as she took a deep breath. She let out a small laugh as she stared ahead not really sure where to start. "Do you know today is the first day that I didn't give 100% during the game? The first time I let myself get distracted by something?"

Bo wasn't sure where she was going with this so she just nodded and rubbed her hand. "It happens Lauren. We've all been there."

Lauren yanked her hand away slightly and looked at Bo with frustration. "It shouldn't happen. I told myself I wouldn't let this happen and I didn't even make it through the first season before breaking my own rule."

Bo looked at her with a bit of defensiveness in her eyes. "And what rule is that?"

Lauren ran her hand through her hair. "To put school and softball first. I was supposed to come here and study and play sports and that's it."

Bo raised an eyebrow. "What about everything else?"

Lauren looked away as she spoke in a low tone. "There wasn't supposed to be anything else."

Bo huffed as she stood up. "Nice Lauren. Well I'm sorry that something got in the way and fucked up your perfect plan."

She grabbed her bag and walked into the bathroom to change and hopefully calm down. She could feel herself seething at the dismissive way Lauren was talking about them and she reminded herself this was why she had been so hesitant to get involved in the first place. Lauren obviously knew what she wanted and a relationship didn't appear to be part of that wish list.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Bo?"

The brunette sighed as she listened to the tentative tone of Lauren's voice. Bo wasn't used to being forced to deal with her issues so quickly and she knew her own temper often got the better of her so she would do her best to keep herself in check as she handled the younger girl's obviously volatile emotions. "What?"

"Can you open the door please?"

Bo waited a few moments before opening the door and taking a step out of the small bathroom. "What Lauren?"

The blonde sighed as she looked at her very angry girlfriend. "I'm sorry Bo that just didn't come out right. Look…" Lauren reached for her hand and Bo let her weave their fingers together lightly. "I never planned to meet you. Or someone like you. I never thought I'd meet someone that makes me so…"

Bo sighed. "So…"

Lauren laughed almost manically. "So free. My whole life was planned, down to the detail of what I was supposed to be doing and when. It's different with you Bo. You have managed to invade every part of my brain and I don't know how to get rid of you."

Bo felt a small smile grace her lips. "Are you tryin to get rid of me?"

Lauren laughed and pulled her closer. "Not in the slightest. It just drives me crazy that I don't even care."

Bo laughed and ran her hand down Lauren's cheek lightly. "Good. Cause I have to say freshman, I'd have a hard time getting rid of you right now."

Lauren nodded and leaned in for a slow kiss. She could literally feel all her troubles drift away as she melted into the kiss and she wondered if this was the feeling people tried to describe when they talked about the kiss of true love. Sure, she'd felt strong emotion with Crystal but it was nothing compared to how she felt when Bo's arms were around her and their lips were pressed together. Lauren didn't hesitate to guide them back to the bed and Bo laughed as she felt herself get pushed down on the bed rather forcefully.

"I thought you were tired?"

Lauren growled. "Shut up."

She threw off her hoodie before leaning over Bo and moaning when the brunette's hands came up to run along her smooth stomach lightly. Lauren had never in her life craved sex until now and she knew it had to do with the intense feelings she felt for the woman beneath her. They soon found themselves mostly naked and Lauren moaned as she slid her hand into Bo's underwear only to be quickly coated in the clear, warm liquid she was dying to taste.

"Lauren…"

Bo's eyes were closed and Lauren nipped at her chin as she slid two fingers into her girlfriend slowly loving how Bo's legs closed slightly in response as she arched her back off the bed. Lauren started a slow rhythm and she grunted when Bo dragged her blunt nails down Lauren's arms in appreciation. She captured Bo's lips in a heated kiss as she increased the pressure and speed of her fingers hoping to bring Bo to the release she'd been thinking about all day.

"Fuck Lauren…."

Bo's hips were moving in time with Lauren's hand and the blonde couldn't fight it any more as she pulled Bo's panties down awkwardly so she could run her tongue over the now hard nub between Bo's legs.

"Holy fucking….shit shit shit…"

Bo's hand was over her eyes as she gripped at the sheets and Lauren smiled before nipping at Bo's clit lightly. She added another finger before wrapping her lips around the bundle of nerves and judging by the way Bo's body began to spasm Lauren knew she was close. Bo let out a string of incoherent thoughts as Lauren felt Bo's insides grip her fingers tightly. Lauren kept moving her fingers deeper and slower to help Bo ride out her orgasm as she kept suckling on her clit lightly making Bo cum again and again.

"Okay…okay…Laur—fuck…"

Bo pushed her away slightly and Lauren laughed as she took one final lick of Bo's clit before licking her lips and moving up to hover over the giggling brunette. "Something funny?"

Bo nodded as she lazily dragged her hands over Lauren's shoulders. "How are you so good at that?"

Lauren pretended to shrug nonchalantly. "I got skills what can I say?"

Bo began laughing louder and Lauren rolled her eyes as she snuggled down against Bo loving how they seemed to fit together so well. She had shut her eyes to drift off to sleep but a tug from Bo's hands woke her up a little and she peeked an eye open at the brunette. "It's not sleep time is it?"

Bo shook her head as she tugged on Lauren again motioning that she wanted her to move up the bed. "Not even close."

Lauren got the hint and moved up so that she had one knee on each side of Bo's head. The brunette had moved to lie flat on the bed and as soon as Bo pulled down on her hips Lauren let out a loud moan as the brunette took her clit in her mouth immediately. Bo used both hands to hold Lauren in place as she licked, nipped and sucked on Lauren's clit before pushing her tongue into the blonde periodically keeping her off guard.

Lauren's hips began to move faster and faster as Bo's tongue ran over her center and she could feel herself on the edge as she began to grind down slightly trying not to push too hard and smother Bo. Once Bo wrapped her lips around her clit though it was over and all Lauren could do was hold on to the headboard as Bo used her tongue to make Lauren cum over and over as she hummed her approval causing shock waves to run up the blonde's spine with each vibration from her throat.

"Bo…Bo….fuck…"

Lauren could feel her legs getting weak and she knew she needed to get off of Bo or she'd literally collapse on top of her. Bo didn't seem to heed her warning though and when she shoved her tongue as far inside of her as she could Lauren grunted before slumping over and she vaguely recalled hearing Bo laugh softly as she helped her get comfortable in the bed the right way.

"Now it's sleep time."

Lauren smiled lazily and mumbled something that probably meant 'okay good' before shutting her eyes and passing out. Bo kissed the side of her head and smiled as she put an arm around the younger girl's waist lightly. It had been a long, long day and Bo was happy that at the end of it she was right where she belonged


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"What are you doing?"

Lauren looked over at the older girl who was currently lying on her back with one leg bent behind her. It was a few hours before game time and the Lady Bruins were in their final stretch of this long road trip. They'd made quick work of most of the teams earning themselves valuable rest time between the doubleheaders they played and up until this point both Bo and Tamsin had safely shown why this team was number one in the nation in pitching ERA.

"Resting."

Bo's arm was over her face and Lauren could tell by the shallow breathing that Bo was quickly falling asleep. They were at their last stop of the trip and facing the team from the University of Oregon. A highly underestimated team, Lauren had done her homework and knew this would be the toughest stop for them and a true test of the team's ability.

The one good thing that came from this long road trip however was that the team had spent a tremendous amount of time together, which resulted in some infighting but mostly had the desired effect of the girls bonding together. Lauren had her doubts at first about really being recognized as "one of them" but she soon saw that the girls were welcoming to her and the other freshman on the squad. It didn't hurt that she was Tamsin's younger sister and more importantly, that Bo had put it out there about their place in each other's lives.

It was during the third stop of the trip when they were in Colorado and Bo ran into one of the girls she'd played on the under-18 national team with. Apparently, as Lauren found out later, the two of them had a budding relationship that fizzled when Bo elected to stay in California and the other decided to head to Colorado. In typical Bo fashion however she didn't really end things with the other girl so when they arrived at CSU it was a rude awakening for the blonde right fielder to find out Bo Dennis was no longer single.

That game turned ugly fast and if Lauren were the timid type she probably would have shied away but the stubborn side of her came out instead. In one particularly chippy play the girl who had been shit talking Lauren all game, once she found out the freshman was the one who captured Bo's attention of course, had been signaled to run home on a long ball hit to the gap in center field. Out of the corner of her eye Lauren could see the girl had no intention of sliding around her so she braced herself as low as possible to receive both the throw from the cut off as well as the impact from the runner. Well apparently in her attempt to brace herself, Lauren may have stood up slightly upon impact causing the base runner to hit the ground hard enough for her head to bounce off the dirt and her helmet to come off.

Needless to say words, and a few shoves, were exchanged after that and Lauren found herself getting ejected from the game for unsportsman like conduct. Both Bo and Tamsin hit the roof at that point and the coaching staff had to restrain them before they also got themselves thrown out. Luckily that was in the 5th inning though, and since UCLA had a comfortable lead they closed the game out quickly. Lauren had spent the better part of those two last innings fuming in the locker room and she had to restrain herself from literally tearing the place apart. It was the comfort of her girlfriend that finally settled her down and Lauren wouldn't admit it but at the time she couldn't believe how risky she'd been with the brunette.

ooOOoo

 _"_ _Lauren!"_

 _The game had ended about an half an hour ago and the rest of the team had finished showering and getting ready to head back to the hotel. They had a few press conferences to do and the trainers told the girls it would be at least an hour or so before they actually headed back so to relax and wait until Coach signaled it was time to leave. Lauren had showered and changed long ago and she'd huddled up in a corner of the locker room starting at her softball bag trying to figure out what happened today._

 _She had brushed Tamsin off when her older sister had approached her and she even gently pushed Nadia away who had made the trip with the team. Most of the other girls weren't totally sure why Lauren lost her shit out there today but after the ass chewing she got from the coaches after the game they all knew to leave well enough alone._

 _The blonde looked up to see Bo striding over to her in her towel after her shower and Lauren couldn't help but feel some signs of desire which annoyed her at the moment since she was so pissed. Never in her entire career had Lauren been ejected from a game. To make matters worse Lauren knew she could have really hurt the girl she collided with since she had all of her catchers gear on but the girl had nothing to protect herself and it scared the younger Lewis to think she had the capacity to react so strongly to a situation._

 _Bo took a seat next to Lauren on the bench and gave her a small smile as she patted her leg. "What happened out there today?"_

 _Lauren shrugged and kicked her bag slightly. "Not sure."_

 _Bo raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Oookay then. Well come on, let's get—hey!"_

 _Lauren had stood up and dragged Bo back into the shower area. The air around them was still humid from the showers that took place there right before and the scent of about eight different shampoo's filled their nostrils as Lauren backed Bo up slightly against the wall. Bo looked surprised at first and wanted to see what Lauren would do in this situation._

 _"_ _Lauren?"_

 _Bo frowned as she saw the tears threatening to spill from Lauren's eyes and she knew whatever was going on in the blonde's head was causing her some major confusion. Bo gently turned them around so that Lauren was leaning against the wall and she looked at her with a sad smile. "Whatever is bothering you, stop. If this is about that girl…stop. I told you before I've only had two serious relationships and she wasn't one of them. If you are feeling insecure then tell me. But don't shut me out. And don't try and act like everything is okay when it's obviously not."_

 _Lauren sighed as she nodded and put her arms around Bo's neck. The brunette smiled as she leaned in and put her hands against the wall trapping Lauren inbetween them. The gentle kiss soon became urgent as Lauren pulled Bo's body closer to her needing to feel some sort of connection with the older girl. Breaking for air Bo pulled back slightly and looked at her with a wicked smile. "I don't think this is the—oookay then"_

 _Lauren's hand made its way up the towel and Bo knew any thoughts of stopping her at this point were futile. Not to be outdone though Bo moved her right hand down into the loose pants Lauren was wearing and moaned when she realized the blonde wasn't wearing underwear. Lauren bit her lip as Bo's fingers brushed against her lightly and she lost concentration of what her own wandering fingers were trying to achieve. Bo smiled into Lauren's neck as she felt the younger girl arch into her touch and tighten her grip on her shoulders._

 _"_ _Dammit Bo…"_

 _The kiss they shared left Bo breathless as she slid her fingers inside the younger girl and she had to fight down her own moan when Lauren's hips started moving in time with her own strokes. She knew they didn't have a lot of time so she kissed her way over to Lauren's ear and pulled on the lobe with her teeth as she whispered in her ear. "Not too loud babe…"_

 _The cracking sound heard throughout the shower area was Lauren's head hitting the wall as her body began moving faster and faster. It seemed as though Bo was going deeper and deeper with each stroke and Lauren could feel more than see the light layer of sweat developing on the pitcher's body. Not letting up for a second Bo added another finger and Lauren leaned forward to bury her head against the crook of Bo's neck as she let the older girl pound into her relentlessly._

 _Hushed moans and ragged breaths filled the air as Lauren rode Bo's fingers hoping to find the release she needed. It was strange, but they both knew this connection was exactly what the other needed in this instant. For Lauren it was confirmation that Bo was hers, she wanted her and her alone and that the brunette was the one who could make Lauren feel the way she did with just a smile or a simple touch. For Bo, it was about Lauren giving herself completely. Knowing that she allowed herself to be free and open with the older girl who, despite everything, had proven herself over and over again._

 _"_ _LAUREN?"_

 _"_ _Oh fuck…." Bo froze when Tamsin's voice rang out and it took Lauren just a bit longer to recover from the moment. She was so close and she was now pissed that they'd been interrupted. Motioning for Bo to be quiet Lauren sighed and looked in the direction of the entrance to the showers. "YES TAMSIN?"_

 _"_ _What are you doing? Let's go."_

 _"_ _HOLD ON. I'M ALMOST DONE."_

 _Bo did her best not to giggle as she thought about the double meaning of those words and she raised her eyebrows at the serious look Lauren gave her. They both waited nervously until it sounded like Tamsin was grabbing her bag and heading out. "HURRY THE FUCK UP THEN." The slamming of the door behind Tamsin indicated the locker room was empty again and Lauren let out the breath she was holding as she looked at Bo with a smile._

 _"_ _Guess we're done here huh?"_

 _Bo laughed but didn't remove her fingers. Instead she pumped softly into Lauren making the blonde's eyes roll back slightly as Bo kissed her neck and chin. "I don't know, sounded like you said you were almost done?"_

 _Lauren laughed and pushed Bo's shoulders slightly. "She WILL be back in a few minutes if we're not out there. Later?"_

 _Bo sighed and nodded as she slid her fingers out slowly. Lauren bit her lip again at the sensation and she shook her head knowing if she gave in she'd let Bo finish what she started and she didn't need the entire team being witness to their lovemaking. She turned on the water so they could both wash their hands and after Bo got dressed in record time they headed out of the locker room to catch up with the rest of the team._

ooOOoo

Coach wasn't so kind the following morning however when she woke the team up at 4am to have a little running session in the parking lot of the hotel. It was freezing cold but none of the coaches seemed to care as the team ran sprints up and down the lot for the better part of an hour. The entire time they were running the coaching staff was reminding them of why they were there and what happened in the game the previous day was never to happen again. Lauren was specifically called out a few times about her decision making and the necessity for her maturity level to rise if she was to remain on the team causing the younger Lewis to grind her teeth and keep her head down as she sprinted ahead.

Following the impromptu training session the team had an early breakfast and headed to the airport for the next leg of the trip. They seemed a lot more focused and put together as they made quick work of Oregon State and now that the end was in sight they were all a bit relived. The bad thing for them was that the team from U of O was hot right now and Lauren knew they needed to be prepared. She'd spent last night in the hotel going over the game with Tamsin and Bo but unfortunately it didn't seem like Bo was too interested in the game preparation. Instead she was choosing to focus her time on watching Lauren and on more than one occasion the younger Lewis sister had to tell her to knock it off. Tamsin just sent menacing looks in Bo's direction from time to time but other than that she stayed quiet. Doing her best to respect her sister's wishes she was trying to accept them with little reservation, although it was proving to be harder than it seemed.

"ALRIGHT LADIES LET'S GO."

The team jogged onto the field to warm up and Bo and Lauren headed over to the enclosed bullpen to loosen Bo's arm up. Lauren took her position behind the practice plate and let Bo go through her usual series of pitches to loosen her arm and get herself warmed up for the game. "Watch your rise ball Bo, I'm not kidding these guys can hit it deep."

Bo scoffed and threw another pitch to Lauren. "Relax. I'm ready, and with you behind the plate we can't lose."

Lauren rolled her eyes and threw the ball back to Bo. "Yeah when you actually listen to me."

Bo laughed as she threw a fastball with about 80% force behind it. "I listen to you."

Lauren raised an eyebrow and threw the ball back to Bo. "Not always."

Bo pouted and sighed as she gripped the ball for a knuckleball. "Most of the time."

Lauren laughed and shook her head. "Some of the time."

Bo rolled her eyes and nodded. "Some of the time."

The pair shared a laugh and Bo motioned to Lauren that she was done warming up. They trotted back to the dugout to get ready for the game and listen to the final words of advice from the coach. It was the first of a double header and it was going to be a hot one that day. As the visiting team they were batting first and after the first three innings the score was tied 1-1.

"Time."

Bo sighed as Lauren stood up and jogged out to the mound. She was one down in the fourth inning with a runner on first and third and Bo found herself in an unusual spot having to pitch herself out of a jam. Lauren motioned for the first and third basemen to join them and Bo stood there with her hand on her hips. "What?"

Lauren gritted her teeth knowing that Bo was frustrated which meant her temper was extremely unpredictable right now. Lauren sighed and looked at the other two defenders. "They like small ball. If the bunt comes, turn two. If you can't go home with it and hold the runner at third. Even if we load the bases we have a better shot at turning a double play that way than giving up the run."

The other two nodded at her and jogged back to their positions while Bo looked at her with a small smile. "At least someone listens to you."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Just keep it low and inside." She jogged back to home plate and the junior pitcher had to admit she watched her girlfriend's backside probably a little closer than necessary as she took her spot behind the plate. Bo shook it off though and took a deep breath before throwing a low curveball that the batter didn't offer on.

The count was 3-1 so the batter knew Bo had to put one over the plate. She wasn't showing bunt but Bo was certain that Lauren was right in that they'd try to squeeze bunt and delay the runner at third. If Lauren covered the bunt fast enough though she could go to first then back home and turn the double play that way but it was a risk as it left the runner standing on second base. Trusting her girlfriend's instincts Bo threw her changeup low and in and sure enough the batter chose to bunt. She laid down a crappy bunt though and Bo was able to scoop it up herself and throw to first. The runner at third had hesitated but went after Bo turned away from her and the first baseman saw the whole thing so she was ready to throw home as soon as she had the ball.

The yellow softball zinged from first to home and in a split second Lauren had the ball in her glove and was moving to tag the runner who was trying to slide around her. She'd positioned herself well enough in front of the plate where she could protect it but not enough where she'd be called for interference and a good stretch with her glove helped her tag the runner's shoulder before the girl's fingers touched home plate.

"OUT!"

The UCLA bench cheered at the good defense from their young infield and Coach gave Lauren a thumbs up sign indicating she was happy about her play. Everyone clapped as they made their way off the field and Bo smiled at Lauren as the freshman dusted herself off and moved towards the dugout. That play seemed to be the difference maker and in the fifth inning the Lady Bruins seemed to go into another gear as they put up 4 runs to give Bo a commanding 5-1 lead. The rest of the game went by quickly and soon they were all relaxing in the dugout before the next game. Lauren leaned back against the bench happy that they'd taken the first game and she was already thinking about how they could tweak their mistakes in the second.

"So superstar, feel good to win that game?"

Lauren laughed as Tamsin sat down next to her and smiled back at her baby sister. Lauren nodded and stretched her back slightly to keep her muscles loose and warm during the intermission. "Like old times."

Tamsin laughed and nodded. "Like old times indeed. But one thing's definitely different baby sister."

Lauren looked at her curiously. "What's that?"

Tamsin gave her a small smile and looked out at the field. "You aren't the one in the shadows anymore. You've come into your own Lauren. I'm proud of you."

Lauren looked at her sister carefully. "Thanks Tamsin."

Tamsin looked at her and laughed. "Well don't look so surprised. I do pay attention to you ya know."

Lauren shrugged and nodded. "Yeah but I—"

Tamsin stood up and stretched her arms out above her head. "And besides, I taught you everything you know kid. Everything."

With that she laughed and walked away and Lauren just looked at her with a smile on her face as she shook her head. Tamsin was right, it was like old times being back in the groove of playing but one thing was definitely for sure. No matter what around them changed, no matter who was in their lives, they would always have the game they loved.


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"…and the final senior…she's the reigning NCAA player of the year and holds the career and single season batting averages for your UCLA Bruins…number 21, from Toronto, Canada…Lauren Lewis!"

The roar of the crowd was incredible and Lauren felt a surge of adrenaline run through her veins as she took the field for the final time in a home uniform. It was her senior night and it also happened to be the final game of the regular season with the Lady Bruins already securing the number one ranking entering the post season. Lauren took a few steps towards home plate and turned to smile and wave at the crowd who let out a huge cheer in appreciation for her. She looked up into the stands and smiled at her parents who were in attendance along with her sister and Kenzi. Shortly after her freshman year it was apparent the two had become an item and she and Bo harassed them to no end about being an adorkable couple as the pair were so opposite it was ridiculous.

"Let's go ladies!"

Coach looked on from the dugout and nodded at Lauren who settled down and took her place behind the plate. She'd played various positions in her collegiate career but for her final game she asked to end her career where it began and wanted to strap on the catcher's gear one last time. She took a few warm up pitches from the freshman pitcher on the mound and smiled knowing tonight would be more of a moral victory than one that actually counted. UCLA was so far ahead in their record that they literally didn't even need to play this game so Lauren was going to soak it all in and enjoy her final home game for everything it should be.

The one black cloud hanging over the blonde was the absence of her girlfriend on this momentous occasion. Kelsy needed to study however as she was taking her MCAT's the following day and Lauren understood the academic pressure she was under. At times Lauren wished Kelsy had taken her athletic career more seriously but she also knew the blonde had been at almost every home game and always made time around her hectic schedule to spend with her. Lauren had met her at the beginning of her third year and although the pair hit it off immediately she was still recovering from her breakup with Bo and it took her a while to be ready to date again, not wanting to leave herself vulnerable to heartbreak again. Kelsy was good and safe and everyone liked her and she was exactly what Lauren needed at the time to get her through the final months of her time at UCLA.

"Batter up!"

The umpire signaled the start of the game and with a shake of her head Lauren cleared her thoughts and let her natural reactions guide her through the game she loved so much. On the surface Lauren was performing at the all-star caliber that people were accustomed to but inside Lauren was going through the motions knowing the team from Washington posed no threat. She enjoyed every strikeout and barked orders at the infielders with the confidence of the field general knowing her college career was coming to an end. Before she could even blink an eye the game was over with UCLA winning 9-1 and Lauren found herself inundated with reporters and well-wishers all vying for a piece of her attention as the night came to a close. After an hour of the hoopla that followed the game and after Coach gave them a short post-game speech in preparation for the post season Lauren found herself wandering out to the field still in her uniform not caring to rush and shower at that moment.

"Good job Baby Lewis."

Lauren rolled her eyes and turned around to see Kenzi and Tamsin walking over to her. The pair had literally been at every one of her games, although she had no idea how they'd managed that because they came to the home and away games, and Lauren had to admit it was comforting knowing she had allies in the crowd when they'd played in rowdy stadiums around the country. Kenzi gave Lauren a high-five as Tamsin put an arm around her and smiled down at her younger sister with nothing but pride on her face.

"I'm proud of you kid. You did good this year."

Lauren nodded and slipped her arm around her sister in return. "Season's not over yet Tam. We have a title to defend."

Tamsin nodded. "Yeah don't fuck that one up."

Lauren laughed and nodded in agreement. If they made it to the finals she would be seeking an unprecedented fourth straight title and given her competitive nature it was the only thing on her mind now that the regular season had wrapped.

"She wanted to be here you know…"

Lauren looked at Kenzi with a small frown. She knew of course that Kenzi was referring to Bo and part of her wanted to believe her former teammate but she also highly doubted she'd be seeing the brunette anytime soon. Lauren shrugged. "I know. It's fine though."

Knowing it was a sore subject Tamsin suggested they go out to dinner to celebrate the win and Lauren agreed knowing her sister was not going to leave her alone that night to let her thoughts consume her. It was a bittersweet moment for Lauren as she thought about how different her first two years had been in comparison to her final two years.

ooOoo

 _After her breakout freshman season she had quickly captured the attention of almost every team in the nation and she suddenly found herself in the limelight alongside Bo as the pair knocked teams out one by one game after game. The second year was similar to the first with Bo on the mound and Lauren behind the plate and it went by in a whirlwind as the team captured its second title in a row making Lauren tremendously proud but at the same time tremendously sad knowing Bo would be graduating that year. With an offer to play ball in Japan, Bo and Lauren had discussed the possibility of their long distance relationship but both knew it was a futile attempt at best._

 _By the third month of Bo being gone the pair were miserable since the time difference was so drastic and they barely got to talk to each other let alone even think about being able to see each other before the school year let out. Lauren's grades began to slip as she was always tired since she stayed awake to talk to Bo and ultimately she had to make the decision to end things between them while Bo was overseas. As expected this didn't sit well with the feisty pitcher and after a few long drawn out conversations the pair decided a breakup was the only possible outcome at the time. Lauren had met Kelsy just before the breakup and while she wasn't exactly a rebound fling, she knew she was taking the easy way out by moving on to the stable and quiet girl who was in her bio class instead of fighting for the passionate teammate she loved with all her heart. She had also suspected Bo was seeing someone in Japan and her suspicions were confirmed when she heard through the rumor mill that Bo was spending time with a pitcher from Australia who played for one of the other professional teams in the area. Lauren was furious thinking that Bo had been unfaithful to her and she let her rage push her further into her relationship with Kelsy so was patient with her and took care of her and basically kept Lauren from going insane mentally and emotionally during her junior year._

 _Bo had returned to the US shortly after the end of Lauren's junior year and made it a point to try and see Lauren who was still reeling from everything that had happened between them. The pair eventually did get together for coffee and after five hours of talking they both realized things hadn't changed as much as they thought it had. The fought and laughed and shared stories of what the other had been up to and although Lauren was careful to keep her guard up and not let herself fall for Bo a second time she could feel the familiar feeling of comfort and calm that Bo seemed to bring out when she was around and it was what Lauren missed the most about the brunette. She missed how Bo made her feel sane and calm and confident and by the end of the coffee night she was exhausted. Mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. The pair ended the night with promises to stay in touch and keep the possibility of reuniting open when Bo returned to the US permanently at the end of her three year contract._

 _But, even the best of intentions usually doesn't work out like one hopes and as days turned into months Lauren knew the radio silence from Bo meant she shouldn't expect anything from her anytime soon. Lauren had tried a few times over the year to email to call Bo but she never got a response so after the third email went unanswered she stopped trying. She didn't know why Bo vanished from her life after their reunion the year prior but she was also done spending her time trying to figure it out. She embraced her fourth year at UCLA with renewed focus and actually enjoyed herself in spite of the empty void she felt in her bones every time she stepped onto the field._

ooOoo

 **Two weeks after the end of the NCAA tournament**

"Hey…"  
Lauren blinked her eyes a few times before looking up in disbelief. It was two weeks after her team had won its fourth straight title and about three weeks before she would graduate from UCLA before beginning medical school at Yale. Kelsy had been accepted at Johns Hopkins so although they wouldn't be at the same school any more the pair were at least reasonably close and Lauren felt happy knowing they would be continuing their relationship beyond their time as undergraduates. The pair had discussed it earlier in the year and with both blondes moving to the east coast they had happily agreed to move their relationship with them and Lauren felt a sense of completion knowing she was set to begin the next phase of her life.

And then this happens.

It's a normal Wednesday afternoon and Lauren was sitting on the steps of her Bio building reading some notes when the one person she had been waiting a lifetime for finally showed up.

"Bo?"

The brunette gave her a small smile and nodded. "Hey Lauren."

Lauren squinted up at her and closed her notebook knowing it was the furthest thing from her mind. "What are you doing here?"

Bo smiled and sat down on the step next to her being careful not to sit too close or too far from the blonde. "I'm back."

Lauren frowned. "You're back?"

Bo nodded. "I'm back."

Lauren scoffed. "Just like that. You're back?"

She felt a surge of anger and confusion wash over her and she looked at Bo in disbelief. "You're back after two years and not a phone call or email or tweet or anything in the last 12 months."

Bo sighed and nodded as she stared ahead knowing Lauren had every right to be upset with her. "Yep."

Lauren growled. "Well welcome back. Now if you'll excuse me I have class."

Bo put her hand on Lauren's arm to still her movement. "I came back for you."

Lauren laughed sarcastically as she stared down at Bo letting the anger take up residence on her face. "I find that hard to believe Bo."

Bo let out a small sigh as she slowly withdrew her hand. "They offered me an extension to stay in Japan. But it would be for another five years and I wasn't ready to be away from you for that long."

Lauren rolled her eyes as she set her things down harder than necessary. "Well you had practice this past year whats the problem?"

Bo looked at her shyly as she licked her lips and looked away before speaking. "Do you know why I never replied to your emails or called you or anything Lauren?"

Lauren rolled her eyes again as she stared at the side of Bo's head. "Because you're an asshole?"

Bo laughed lightly and nodded as she glanced at Lauren. "Besides that. I couldn't handle it Lauren. In truth I wanted you there with me but you had to finish school and your career here."

Lauren looked at her curiously letting her features soften just a little bit. "Why didn't you just tell me you missed me?"

Bo looked away again in frustration. "Because you would have done something stupid. Like came to see me or something and it would have ruined your career or worse your grades and it would have left me empty once you returned to school."

Lauren frowned. "So your solution was to cut me off completely? Do you know how shitty I felt after you left last time?"

Bo nodded and frowned also. "Yeah I do Laur because I felt it too. I shouldn't have come when I did…but I needed to see you and leave things better than we had on the phone."

Lauren ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "You nearly broke me Bo. You know that. Why should I welcome you back into my life now?"

Bo sighed and looked at Lauren sadly. "You shouldn't. But it doesn't mean I won't hang around and try to show you why you should."

Lauren couldn't help the small smile that crept over her lips at the comment. She knew she was only kidding herself by denying her feelings for Bo but she wasn't ready to let the older woman just waltz back in and pick up where she left off. She had plans, things she wanted to get accomplished in her life and she wasn't going to give all of that up because Bo decided she was ready.

BEEP BEEP

Lauren looked at her cell and smiled a little at the text from Kelsy wishing her good luck on her Bio quiz. Bo watched the interaction and fought the urge to roll her eyes in annoyance but she knew that Lauren had a girlfriend and that it wasn't her place to try and break the pair up. She knew she'd lost a lot of Lauren's trust by the way she'd handled things when she left for Japan but in all honesty she did that out of fear. She was scared at how much she cared for Lauren and she didn't know how to handle the feelings that had left her empty inside when she'd arrived in the foreign country to start her professional career. She'd considered terminating her contract but she knew she had to do this for herself. She'd worked her entire life to get to this point and with softball returning to the Olympics in 2020 she wanted to stay in playing shape until tryouts for Team USA. It was the hardest decision of her life but she knew it was the right one as it gave Lauren the freedom to be the college student she needed to be and have the experiences she needed to have while at UCLA. But as time went on Bo quickly realized her own dreams and ambition was nothing in comparison to how much she needed Lauren in her life. She knew she'd made a mistake by letting Lauren go and she opted out of her contract at the end of her second season and got on the first plane back to the US with only one thing on her mind.

She hoped she wasn't too late though and she knew one thing for sure...she was back to fight for Lauren and there would be no one who would get in her way. She knew Lauren was leaving for medical school and she knew Lauren had her life planned out and Bo was hoping that somehow she'd find a way to be a part of that again. Even if it meant giving up everything she'd ever wanted in life because she'd come to realize the only thing that mattered was Lauren and she would do whatever it took to get her back once again.


End file.
